American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America

Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America lowered its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,355 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 180 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up approximately 5.2% of Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. HSBC raised their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.57.

American Express Price Performance

AXP opened at $277.98 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $195.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $297.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $288.99. American Express has a one year low of $214.51 and a one year high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. 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. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.41%.

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.