Teacher Retirement System of Texas Raises Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 19.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 328,870 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 54,348 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in American Express were worth $97,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Baron Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $212,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Howe & Rusling Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 1,834 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $14,425,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 32.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 10,655 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,890,000 after purchasing an additional 2,608 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,593. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Baird R W upgraded American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. UBS Group raised their target price on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $303.52.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $270.66 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $214.51 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $190.15 billion, a PE ratio of 19.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $299.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $288.35.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.41%.

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.