Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Buys 19,634 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 60.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 52,272 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,634 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $14,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new position in American Express in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Bank of America upgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Argus downgraded shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, BTIG Research decreased their price objective on shares of American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of American Express 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,590,251. This trade represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $287.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.53, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $278.89 and a 200 day moving average of $288.94. 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 posted its 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. The company 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 period last year, the company posted $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.