Zhang Financial LLC Has $3.23 Million Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Zhang Financial LLC increased its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 27.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,998 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,552 shares during the quarter. Zhang Financial LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $3,228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Norges Bank bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,785,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in American Express by 463.3% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,357,487 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,293,259,000 after purchasing an additional 3,583,959 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in American Express by 27,625.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $581,914,000 after purchasing an additional 2,155,045 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in American Express by 186.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $886,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943,463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in American Express by 346.2% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,021,873 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $600,072,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,747 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP traded down $1.20 on Thursday, reaching $297.90. The stock had a trading volume of 1,603,921 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,816,223. American Express has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $326.28. The company has a market cap of $208.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $276.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $289.22. 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 (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. 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 research note on Monday, March 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, April 21st. BTIG Research lowered their price objective on shares of American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $296.05.

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.