Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. Purchases 452 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 47.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,405 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 452 shares during the quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 119.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,993,000 after purchasing an additional 21,508 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 102.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,842,000 after acquiring an additional 6,329 shares during the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP purchased a new position in American Express during the first quarter valued at $1,881,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group increased its holdings in American Express by 2,196.4% in the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after acquiring an additional 7,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its stake in American Express by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 35,763 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,143,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of several research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on American Express in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $231.43.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $270.90 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $194.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $272.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $252.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $239.76.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.23. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The company had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.06%.

American Express Company Profile

American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated payments company in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Canada, the Caribbean, and Internationally. It operates through four segments: U.S. Consumer Services, Commercial Services, International Card Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services.