First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Grows Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,876 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 247 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth about $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $320.87 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $302.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $274.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a one year low of $186.43 and a one year high of $326.27. The firm has a market cap of $226.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on AXP. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $281.00.

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.