Truist Financial Corp Sells 2,344 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Truist Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 239,808 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 2,344 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp's holdings in American Express were worth $71,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,483,512 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $3,104,735,000 after purchasing an additional 86,100 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,606,986 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,249,415,000 after purchasing an additional 239,173 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,960,842 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,074,168,000 after purchasing an additional 33,193 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in American Express by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $655,137,000 after purchasing an additional 247,864 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. HSBC raised their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned 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 $296.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded down $8.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $295.23. 3,277,941 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,481,628. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $207.41 billion, a PE ratio of 21.07, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.24. The company's 50 day moving average price is $307.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $284.27. American Express has a 52 week low of $212.48 and a 52 week high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. American Express's payout ratio is 19.99%.

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.