American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 147,620 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,502 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $27,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,490 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 5,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $982,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,584 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its stake in American Express by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 4,894 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $917,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,786 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,646,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AXP. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. HSBC upped their target price on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.71.

American Express Stock Up 0.1 %

AXP traded up $0.29 on Tuesday, reaching $234.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,084,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,188,171. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $225.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The company has a market capitalization of $168.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $240.55.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Anna Marrs sold 3,592 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.93, for a total transaction of $829,500.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,602,896.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other American Express news, insider Anna Marrs sold 3,592 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.93, for a total value of $829,500.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,932 shares in the company, valued at $4,602,896.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.36, for a total value of $729,842.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,948.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 327,933 shares of company stock valued at $73,199,843 over the last three months. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.