Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC Raises Position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC increased its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 2.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,620 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,198 shares during the period. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $12,543,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in American Express by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 680,308 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $183,037,000 after purchasing an additional 35,295 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc raised its position in shares of American Express by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 167,534 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $45,243,000 after acquiring an additional 2,259 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 94,458 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $25,088,000 after buying an additional 5,693 shares during the last quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 368.7% in the 1st quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $955,000 after buying an additional 2,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 95,443 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $25,679,000 after buying an additional 7,822 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

American Express Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of AXP stock traded up $0.92 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $320.39. 409,331 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,839,300. The stock's 50 day moving average is $300.79 and its 200-day moving average is $290.49. The company has a market cap of $224.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $329.14.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's payout ratio is presently 22.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AXP. Truist Financial upped their price target on American Express from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $327.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Redburn Atlantic raised 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 report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 price target on American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $305.74.

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.