Greystone Financial Group LLC Cuts Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Greystone Financial Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 5.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,608 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 2,485 shares during the quarter. American Express comprises 2.3% of Greystone Financial Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Greystone Financial Group LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $12,809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter worth $1,785,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its holdings in American Express by 463.3% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,357,487 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,293,259,000 after buying an additional 3,583,959 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in American Express by 27,625.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $581,914,000 after acquiring an additional 2,155,045 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in American Express by 186.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $886,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,943,463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 346.2% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,021,873 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $600,072,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568,747 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus cut shares of American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Baird R W upgraded American Express from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. One 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 currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $296.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express 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 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 approximately $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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $302.71 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $212.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.61, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25. American Express has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $326.28. 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 moving average is $273.60 and its 200 day moving average is $289.07.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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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