American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS reduced its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 118,331 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 3,928 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in American Express were worth $35,119,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $270.66 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $299.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $288.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a twelve month low of $214.51 and a twelve month high of $326.28. The stock has a market cap of $190.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21.

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

American Express Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Argus cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $303.52.

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.