American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Holdings Decreased by Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA

Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA lessened its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 30.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,930 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 845 shares during the period. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA’s holdings in American Express were worth $519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AXP. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $302.71 on Friday. American Express has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $326.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $273.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $289.10.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Argus cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of American Express from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.05.

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.