Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Sells 6,191 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. decreased its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 140,079 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 6,191 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $32,435,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,112,747,000. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $433,709,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of American Express by 62.1% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,399,494 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $449,521,000 after purchasing an additional 919,337 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,923,399,000 after purchasing an additional 662,382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in shares of American Express by 969.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 602,726 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $112,910,000 after purchasing an additional 546,389 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock traded down $7.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $244.06. 3,652,963 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,967,115. The company has a market cap of $175.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $244.57 and its 200 day moving average is $234.00. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $261.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.60 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.12 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on American Express from $240.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Barclays upped their target price on American Express from $221.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.70.

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.