Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Buys 79,566 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 42.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 266,570 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 79,566 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up 0.7% of Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest 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 (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Tradition Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,071 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $911,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC now owns 14,032 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,164,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417 shares during the period. Mirova grew its stake in shares of American Express by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Mirova now owns 42,900 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $12,732,000 after purchasing an additional 943 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in American Express by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 156,659 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $46,495,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norinchukin Bank The grew its position in shares of American Express by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 35,345 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $10,490,000 after buying an additional 1,393 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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. HSBC raised their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $343.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $294.90.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $251.48 on Friday. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $272.87 and its 200 day moving average is $287.71. 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 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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. On average, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.