Fulton Bank N.A. Sells 1,632 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Fulton Bank N.A. decreased its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 15.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor 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 reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in American Express by 26,783.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,467,210,000 after buying an additional 906,353 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 8.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its position in American Express by 924.2% in the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $197,149,000 after purchasing an additional 768,301 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in American Express by 59,816.0% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $185,079,000 after purchasing an additional 681,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of American Express by 71.9% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,098 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $269,547,000 after purchasing an additional 486,755 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $272.64.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock traded up $0.98 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $303.00. 550,084 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,839,872. 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 $177.81 and a one year high of $307.82. The stock has a market cap 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. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $295.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $268.18.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.