Goldstone Financial Group LLC Buys Shares of 639 American Express Company $AXP

Goldstone Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 639 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in shares of American Express by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,633 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. GHE LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 17,021 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $5,052,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Triglav Skladi D.O.O. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth $8,162,000. Finally, WBI Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 52.3% in the 4th quarter. WBI Investments LLC now owns 6,566 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,949,000 after purchasing an additional 2,256 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $18,360,145.87. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at $2,677,527.47. This represents a 87.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270 over the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE:AXP opened at $327.28 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $313.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $292.08. American Express Company has a 52 week low of $220.43 and a 52 week high of $332.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $227.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The company had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. DZ Bank cut American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on American Express and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $327.00 price target (up previously from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $315.20.

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.