Fulton Bank N.A. Trims Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Fulton Bank N.A. lowered its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 15.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,898 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,632 shares during the quarter. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in American Express in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the third quarter worth about $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded up $0.98 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $303.00. 550,084 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,839,872. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $295.23 and a 200 day moving average of $268.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 1 year low of $177.81 and a 1 year high of $307.82.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. American Express’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 20.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on AXP. Bank of America lifted their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. BTIG Research downgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. HSBC lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $272.64.

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.