Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Cuts Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund trimmed its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 9.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 16,628 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,700 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Foundation Advisors lifted its position in shares of American Express by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 3,261 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $743,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the first quarter valued at $272,000. Hutner Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in American Express by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Hutner Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,777 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $5,186,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 415.0% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 15,317 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,488,000 after acquiring an additional 12,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in American Express by 823.5% in the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 628 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BTIG Research cut shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $286.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a 52-week low of $157.97 and a 52-week high of $296.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $272.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $251.09.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.