Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Cuts Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lowered its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 94,346 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 209 shares during the quarter. American Express comprises 1.1% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $21,846,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AXP. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 54,832 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $10,272,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Keel Point LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $207,000. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $258,000. Finally, KLCM Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $254,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on American Express from $240.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $230.70.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP traded up $2.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $251.71. The stock had a trading volume of 2,149,718 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,002,593. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $256.24. The company has a market cap of $181.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $237.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $229.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The company had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express 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.