Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA Trims Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA reduced its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 30.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. BTIG Research decreased their price target on American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Bank of America raised shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $296.05.

American Express Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of AXP 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 stock's 50-day moving average is $273.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $289.10. 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 stock has a market cap of $212.08 billion, a PE ratio of 21.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.33 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,251. This trade represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.

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