Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Buys 745 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 2.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,696 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 745 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in American Express were worth $8,515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Optas LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 2.8% during the second quarter. Optas LLC now owns 1,429 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $456,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Dempze Nancy E boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 210.2% during the second quarter. Dempze Nancy E now owns 3,459 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 2,344 shares during the period. Narwhal Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 17.6% during the second quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 59,334 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $18,926,000 after purchasing an additional 8,876 shares during the period. Ignite Planners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.9% during the second quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 4,821 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,484,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the second quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,598 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $323.86 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $225.37 billion, a PE ratio of 22.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $321.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $299.43. American Express Company has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $349.19.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $18,360,145.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,677,527.47. This represents a 87.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction of $1,709,235.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at $6,312,049.47. This represents a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $327.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $297.00 to $336.00 and gave the stock a “cautious” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $348.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $323.55.

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.