Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP Sells 1,026 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP cut its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,390 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 1,026 shares during the quarter. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP's holdings in American Express were worth $12,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in shares of American Express by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,633 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $781,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. GHE LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 17,021 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $5,052,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of American Express by 47.3% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 37,497 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $11,129,000 after acquiring an additional 12,035 shares during the period. Finally, LGT Group Foundation increased its holdings in American Express by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 19,353 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $5,744,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. Bank of America upgraded American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $297.40.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business'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 value of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 10,919 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded up $3.30 on Wednesday, hitting $325.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,040,132 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,839,008. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $291.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $289.23. The company has a market capitalization of $228.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.75, a PEG ratio of 1.55 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 Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $326.58.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. American Express's payout ratio is 22.91%.

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.