National Pension Service Grows Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

National Pension Service lifted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,022,817 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,518 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in American Express were worth $191,615,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA grew its stake in shares of American Express by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 155 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.36, for a total transaction of $729,842.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,948.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 316,691 shares of company stock valued at $70,856,898 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE:AXP traded up $1.79 on Thursday, reaching $238.03. 1,055,377 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,155,792. The firm has a market cap of $171.21 billion, a PE ratio of 19.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $225.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.14. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $240.55.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.99 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of American Express from $253.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.71.

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.