Park Avenue Securities LLC Grows Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 10.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,995 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,729 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $7,532,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on AXP. 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $296.05.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,251. This trade represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of American Express 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 owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Stock Performance

American Express stock opened at $302.71 on Monday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $273.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $289.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market cap of $212.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 company posted $3.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share 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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