Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Trims Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,162 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 408 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in American Express were worth $8,461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Everhart Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in American Express by 11.8% during the third quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,417 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in American Express by 30.0% during the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,489 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares during the period. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the third quarter worth about $29,000. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Express by 2.9% during the third quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,995 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,790,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Asset Management LLC increased its stake in American Express by 66.8% during the third quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 3,580 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total value of $27,267,303.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 110,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,642,315.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 321,200 shares of company stock valued at $71,640,500 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AXP. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on American Express from $253.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.71.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded up $3.52 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $234.29. 2,259,187 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,200,852. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $224.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $195.48. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $240.55. 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 firm has a market cap of $168.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.99 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 issued a $0.10 dividend. 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 currently 23.06%.

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.