QRG Capital Management Inc. Has $38.14 Million Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 141,770 shares of the payment services company's stock after buying an additional 1,729 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in American Express were worth $38,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 now directly owns 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Trading Down 3.5%

NYSE:AXP opened at $287.62 on Monday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $278.89 and a 200-day moving average of $288.83. The company has a market cap of $201.50 billion, a PE ratio of 20.53, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25. American Express has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $326.28.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AXP. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report 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. BTIG Research lowered their target price on shares of American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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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