Citizens National Bank Trust Department Trims Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Citizens National Bank Trust Department trimmed its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,633 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 53 shares during the quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in American Express by 26,783.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,467,210,000 after purchasing an additional 906,353 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,984,208,000 after buying an additional 866,110 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in American Express by 59,816.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $185,079,000 after acquiring an additional 681,304 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 35,213.7% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $86,002,000 after acquiring an additional 316,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in American Express by 73.7% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 707,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $191,842,000 after acquiring an additional 300,138 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on AXP. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial started coverage on American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. Compass Point lowered their target price on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. BTIG Research increased their target price on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $309.90 on Thursday. American Express has a 12 month low of $209.10 and a 12 month high of $326.27. The company has a market cap of $217.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.12, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $307.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $283.65.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. American Express’s payout ratio is 19.99%.

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.