Zhang Financial LLC Has $3.23 Million Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Zhang Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 27.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,998 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,552 shares during the quarter. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,228,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $556,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Transform Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth approximately $255,000. Donaldson Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth approximately $228,000. Eagle Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,763,000. Finally, CX Institutional boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. CX Institutional now owns 39,379 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $10,595,000 after acquiring an additional 3,072 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Baird R W raised American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America upgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, 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. One investment 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 a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.05.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $299.25 on Thursday. American Express has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $326.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $276.48 and a 200-day moving average of $289.22.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value 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. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company 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.