First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Buys Shares of 1,333 American Express Company $AXP

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 1,333 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $425,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of American Express by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,843,893 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $12,334,299,000 after buying an additional 605,900 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of American Express by 13.7% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,849,777,000 after buying an additional 2,168,445 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth $1,454,667,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,093,807 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,370,489,000 after purchasing an additional 78,538 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 25.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,278,711,000 after purchasing an additional 965,221 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total value of $7,671,326.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 123,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,343,574.81. The trade was a 15.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 10,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $316.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $349.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $322.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $300.00. The stock has a market cap of $220.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.29.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The company had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on American Express and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on American Express from $343.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on American Express from $311.00 to $362.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $323.60.

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.