Stablepoint Partners LLC Sells 747 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Stablepoint Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 10.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 747 shares during the period. Stablepoint Partners LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new stake in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on AXP. Argus cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report 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 for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Baird R W raised shares of American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% 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 Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE:AXP opened at $295.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a 52 week low of $220.43 and a 52 week high of $326.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $207.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.12, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $272.96 and a 200 day moving average of $288.97.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (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 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.