BayBridge Capital Group LLC Sells 4,813 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

BayBridge Capital Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 84.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 889 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 4,813 shares during the period. BayBridge Capital Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Atlas Private Wealth Advisors increased its position in American Express by 2.8% in the first quarter. Atlas Private Wealth Advisors now owns 2,740 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH boosted its stake in American Express by 266.7% during the 1st quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 3,718 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 2,704 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 20.1% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 656 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $177,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in American Express by 2.2% in the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 9,516 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,560,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 3.4% in the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 16,157 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,347,000 after buying an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AXP. BTIG Research lowered their price objective on shares of American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup lowered their price target 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. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.05.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $287.62 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $201.50 billion, a PE ratio of 20.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $278.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $288.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS 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 analyst estimates 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 in the previous year, the business posted $3.33 EPS. Analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express 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.