Centricity Wealth Management LLC Acquires 46 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Centricity Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 7.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 627 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of AXP opened at $302.71 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.08 billion, a PE ratio of 21.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s fifty day moving average is $273.60 and its 200 day moving average is $289.07. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $17.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup dropped their price objective on American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Argus cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Baird R W upgraded shares of American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.05.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of American Express 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.