Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 14,037 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Fifth Third Bancorp lowered its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 183,860 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 14,037 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in American Express were worth $54,568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 26,783.5% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 906,353 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased 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 buying an additional 866,110 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 59,816.0% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $185,079,000 after buying an additional 681,304 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 35,213.7% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $86,002,000 after buying an additional 316,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 300,138 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was 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 currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock traded down $5.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $320.87. 6,256,039 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,894,205. American Express has a one year low of $186.43 and a one year high of $326.27. The stock has a market cap of $226.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. 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 fifty day moving average price of $302.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $274.66.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. American Express's payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Three investment 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, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.