American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Holdings Lowered by Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc

Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc trimmed its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 31.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,329 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 611 shares during the period. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in American Express were worth $308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 62.5% during the first quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Sachetta LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer Skyler sold 14,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total transaction of $3,578,087.46. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 16,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,957,361.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded up $5.16 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $231.08. 3,147,860 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,046,318. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $256.24. The company’s 50 day moving average is $236.65 and its 200 day moving average is $226.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The company had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.89 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.24 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Compass Point assumed coverage on American Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $230.70.

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.