First Interstate Bank Sells 1,420 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

First Interstate Bank trimmed its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 5.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,542 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 1,420 shares during the quarter. First Interstate Bank's holdings in American Express were worth $6,334,000 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. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,785,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in American Express by 463.3% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,357,487 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,293,259,000 after buying an additional 3,583,959 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in American Express by 27,625.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $581,914,000 after buying an additional 2,155,045 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in American Express by 186.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $886,426,000 after buying an additional 1,943,463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its position in American Express by 346.2% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,021,873 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $600,072,000 after buying an additional 1,568,747 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, 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 value of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $301.42.

American Express Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded up $8.17 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $325.52. 2,844,319 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,846,784. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $299.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $290.57. The company has a market cap of $228.06 billion, a PE ratio of 22.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.25. American Express Company has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $329.14.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's payout ratio is 22.91%.

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.