Yousif Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 74,258 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 3,164 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $19,979,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $1,785,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in American Express by 463.3% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 3,583,959 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 27,625.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $581,914,000 after buying an additional 2,155,045 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in American Express by 186.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $886,426,000 after buying an additional 1,943,463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 346.2% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,021,873 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $600,072,000 after buying an additional 1,568,747 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of AXP opened at $301.61 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $326.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $274.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $289.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. 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 prior year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AXP. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. 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. BTIG Research reduced 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the 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 owns 10,919 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,590,251. This trade represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express 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.