Wolf Group Capital Advisors Has $2.38 Million Stock Position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Wolf Group Capital Advisors lowered its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 20.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,832 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 2,327 shares during the quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors' holdings in American Express were worth $2,376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Capital & Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $213,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,924,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,633 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $781,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,592 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $473,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. One research 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $296.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

American Express Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of AXP traded up $3.73 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $296.54. 3,690,060 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,824,396. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $281.42 and a 200-day moving average of $288.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.25.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's payout ratio is 22.91%.

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.