United Services Automobile Association Has $18.12 Million Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

United Services Automobile Association reduced its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 28.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,800 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 26,558 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association’s holdings in American Express were worth $18,116,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in American Express by 26,783.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,467,210,000 after purchasing an additional 906,353 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in American Express by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its stake in shares of American Express by 924.2% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $197,149,000 after acquiring an additional 768,301 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 59,816.0% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $185,079,000 after purchasing an additional 681,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in American Express by 71.9% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,098 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $269,547,000 after purchasing an additional 486,755 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. HSBC lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America upped their target price on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock opened at $304.03 on Friday. American Express has a twelve month low of $167.57 and a twelve month high of $307.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $282.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $257.08. The company has a market capitalization of $214.17 billion, a PE ratio of 22.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. Research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.39 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.60%.

About American Express

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.