Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC Sells 417 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC cut its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 19.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,761 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 417 shares during the quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BTIG Research decreased their target price on American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Baird R W upgraded shares of American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup lowered their price target on American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.05.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $297.90 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $277.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $289.17. The stock has a market cap of $208.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.26, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25. American Express has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,590,251. This trade represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.