Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Trims Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 145,414 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 725 shares during the quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $23,986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Elequin Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Chelsea Counsel Co. purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Steward Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 104.9% during the first quarter. Steward Financial Group LLC now owns 211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Focused Wealth Management Inc boosted its stake in American Express by 1,400.0% in the first quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 225 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $188.00 target price on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded American Express from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $197.00 to $200.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 5th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on American Express from $180.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. 3M reaffirmed a “reiterates” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, June 30th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on American Express in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $173.06.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded up $0.65 during trading on Friday, hitting $157.43. The company had a trading volume of 1,931,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,404,264. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.59. American Express has a 12 month low of $130.65 and a 12 month high of $182.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.19.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 21st. The payment services company reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $15.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.41 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 29.26% and a net margin of 12.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.57 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Express will post 11.13 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Company Profile

American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides charge and credit payment card products, and travel-related services worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Global Consumer Services Group, Global Commercial Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services. Its products and services include payment and financing products; network services; accounts payable expense management products and services; and travel and lifestyle services.