State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Cuts Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury decreased its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 216,892 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 20,407 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury’s holdings in American Express were worth $64,371,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $832,000. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 430.6% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after buying an additional 3,867 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 349,937 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $103,858,000 after buying an additional 12,364 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI increased its position in shares of American Express by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $25,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 6,451 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,915,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on AXP shares. Truist Financial reduced their target price on American Express from $350.00 to $343.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $294.90.

American Express Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $251.48 on Monday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. 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 P/E ratio of 17.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a fifty day moving average of $272.87 and a 200 day moving average of $287.84.

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

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s payout ratio is 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.