Courier Capital LLC Boosts Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Courier Capital LLC grew its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 8.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,985 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,517 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $5,377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,590,251. The trade was 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America raised shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their target price for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $296.05.

American Express Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded down $1.98 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $299.58. 2,045,257 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,826,778. American Express has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $326.28. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $274.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $289.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

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.