National Pension Service Boosts Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 0.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,191,145 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,873 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in American Express were worth $402,905,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in American Express by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,924,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 13.0% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,738 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the second quarter worth about $428,000. Howland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 4.2% during the second quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 2,216 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $707,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,898 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $924,000 after buying an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of several recent research reports. DZ Bank raised American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $328.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, July 13th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $396.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, HSBC upped their target price on shares of American Express from $312.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $373.32.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $321.94 on Thursday. American Express Company has a 52-week low of $290.97 and a 52-week high of $387.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 1.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $340.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $324.87.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The payment services company reported $4.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.12. American Express had a return on equity of 34.12% and a net margin of 15.07%.The company had revenue of $19.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.08 EPS. American Express’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. American Express has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.300-17.900 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express Company will post 17.68 earnings per share for the current year.

About American Express

American Express Company is a global payments and financial services company that provides payment products, services and experiences to consumers, businesses and institutions. Its offerings include credit and charge cards, consumer and commercial payment solutions, business financing, deposit products and expense-management tools.

The company also operates a global payments network connecting cardmembers, merchants and financial institutions. Through its merchant services business, American Express supports payment acceptance and provides data-driven marketing and customer-engagement solutions.