Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Has $25.67 Million Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. cut its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 110,871 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 6,568 shares during the period. American Express makes up about 0.9% of Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $25,672,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 119.6% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 102.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after purchasing an additional 6,329 shares during the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth $1,881,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group lifted its position in shares of American Express by 2,196.4% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after buying an additional 7,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its position in shares of American Express by 15.5% during 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 buying an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on AXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on American Express from $240.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on American Express in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $231.43.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $271.17 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market cap of $195.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $251.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $239.19. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $272.68.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

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.