California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 36,170 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,069,092 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 36,170 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in American Express were worth $200,284,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Park Place Capital Corp lifted its holdings in American Express by 382.6% during the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 333 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE increased its position in American Express by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE now owns 5,274 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $787,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Perennial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Perennial Advisors LLC now owns 51,270 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $7,649,000 after buying an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of American Express by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,140 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of American Express by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 58,738 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,875,000 after buying an additional 689 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at $12,248,905.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of AXP traded up $2.96 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $235.96. The stock had a trading volume of 714,031 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,128,246. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $236.43. The business’s fifty day moving average is $220.47 and its 200 day moving average is $189.56. The firm has a market cap of $170.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.39%. American Express’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.40 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 12.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, HSBC boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $208.24.

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.