American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC

Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,050 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,603 shares during the period. American Express makes up about 2.9% of Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $18,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in American Express by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,526 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,756,000 after purchasing an additional 997 shares during the period. Defined Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at about $216,000. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth about $590,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 31.1% during the first quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.7% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 185,152 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $49,815,000 after buying an additional 1,292 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $299.25 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $326.28. The business has a 50 day moving average of $276.48 and a 200-day moving average of $289.22. The stock has a market cap of $209.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on AXP. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of American Express from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.05.

American Express Company 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.