Byrne Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

Byrne Asset Management LLC lowered its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 1.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,856 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 47 shares during the quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the first quarter worth about $1,454,667,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in American Express by 13.7% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,849,777,000 after buying an additional 2,168,445 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake 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 during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in American Express by 25.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,278,711,000 after buying an additional 965,221 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $187,337,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,191.50. This trade represents a 82.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total transaction of $37,034,041.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 92,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,614,306.60. This trade represents a 54.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $327.28 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $313.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $292.08. American Express Company has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $332.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market cap of $227.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on AXP. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $315.20.

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.