Wedmont Private Capital Purchases 148 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,550 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in American Express by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,142 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $636,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC boosted its position in American Express by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 4,007 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its position in American Express by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 1,424 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC boosted its position in American Express by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 2,449 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $727,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its position in American Express by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,510 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup dropped their target price on American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird raised 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. Finally, Baird R W raised American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.05.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $302.71 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $273.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $289.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.61, a PEG 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,590,251. The trade was 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 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.