Ibex Wealth Advisors Purchases 4,173 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Ibex Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 33.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,837 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,173 shares during the period. Ibex Wealth Advisors' holdings in American Express were worth $4,530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $1,785,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its holdings in American Express by 463.3% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 3,583,959 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in American Express by 27,625.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $581,914,000 after purchasing an additional 2,155,045 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in American Express by 186.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $886,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943,463 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 346.2% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 1,568,747 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the firm'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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of American Express stock in a transaction 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 owns 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. The trade was 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 Trading Down 0.1%

American Express stock traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $299.25. The company had a trading volume of 2,013,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,822,169. The firm has a market cap of $209.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25. American Express has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $326.28. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $275.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $289.15.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.33 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AXP. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America upgraded American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. BTIG Research dropped their price objective on American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $296.05.

American Express 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.