First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Purchases 143 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,019 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 143 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $301.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $211.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.53, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $326.28. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $274.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $289.07.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of American Express from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Bank of America raised shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.