Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Trims Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lessened its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 195,736 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 2,012 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $52,663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 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.

American Express Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of AXP opened at $294.17 on Tuesday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $280.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $288.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. American Express has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $326.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $206.09 billion, a PE ratio of 21.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America raised American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Argus lowered shares of American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently 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.

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