Citadel Investment Advisory Inc. Sells 175 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Citadel Investment Advisory Inc. cut its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,709 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 175 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for about 0.9% of Citadel Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Citadel Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,805,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of American Express from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target 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. 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. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.05.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $287.62 on Monday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $278.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $288.83. The company has a market capitalization of $201.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25. 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 earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 firm earned $3.33 earnings per share. Analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,590,251. This trade represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the sale, 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 owned by insiders.

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.