American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stake Boosted by Public Sector Pension Investment Board

Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 384,003 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 128,600 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned about 0.05% of American Express worth $104,142,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. lifted its stake in American Express by 42.2% in the second quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter worth $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

American Express Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $304.28 on Thursday. American Express has a 52-week low of $163.61 and a 52-week high of $307.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $278.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $254.61.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

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.