Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Boosts Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 42.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 266,570 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 79,566 shares during the period. American Express accounts for about 0.7% of Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in American Express were worth $79,115,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $998,593. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point lowered their target price on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $244.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on American Express from $350.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. As part of a broader Q1 preview for Consumer Finance, RBC anticipates seasonally-driven trends with lower loans and volumes, stable credit performance, and possibly elevated loan loss provisions due to uncertainty. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $294.90.

American Express Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:AXP opened at $251.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The company has a market capitalization of $176.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. American Express has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $326.28. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $272.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $287.71.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is an increase 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

American Express 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.