American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 517,862 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 17,118 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.07% of American Express worth $153,696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at $832,000. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 430.6% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $25,626,000 after buying an additional 2,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $832,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group raised their price objective on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, HSBC increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $296.38.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

American Express Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE AXP traded up $1.48 on Tuesday, reaching $312.52. The company had a trading volume of 2,023,941 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,455,457. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $307.25 and a 200-day moving average of $282.90. American Express has a 1 year low of $209.10 and a 1 year high of $326.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.99%.

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.