Opinicus Capital Inc. Purchases Shares of 920 American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Opinicus Capital Inc. bought a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 920 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,752,084 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $3,484,312,000 after acquiring an additional 268,572 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,761,336 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $2,600,277,000 after purchasing an additional 95,927 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in American Express by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,825,135 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $2,025,632,000 after purchasing an additional 955,811 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $1,785,867,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in American Express by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,015,269 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,488,482,000 after buying an additional 408,283 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on AXP. Robert W. Baird upgraded American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective 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. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Argus lowered shares of American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $296.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% 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 Price Performance

AXP stock traded up $6.38 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $294.17. The stock had a trading volume of 2,306,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,007,674. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $278.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $288.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $206.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a 52 week low of $220.43 and a 52 week high of $326.27.

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