BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Raises Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 58.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 110,339 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,499 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in American Express were worth $25,549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 119.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,993,000 after acquiring an additional 21,508 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $2,842,000 after buying an additional 6,329 shares during the period. Sciencast Management LP purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at $1,881,000. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 15.5% in the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 35,763 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,143,000 after acquiring an additional 4,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 49.0% in the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 279,106 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $63,550,000 after acquiring an additional 91,760 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $266.49 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $191.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 1 year low of $140.91 and a 1 year high of $272.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $249.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $237.85.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The business had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.60 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on American Express from $221.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, BTIG Research started coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Three investment 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, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.78.

About American Express

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.