Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $105.68 Million Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 389,660 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 27,050 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.06% of American Express worth $105,676,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,699,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 575,969 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $159,267,000 after buying an additional 35,211 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its stake in American Express by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 63,276 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $17,161,000 after buying an additional 5,476 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in American Express by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 23,491 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $6,370,000 after acquiring an additional 856 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in American Express by 58.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 44,390 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $12,039,000 after acquiring an additional 16,321 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Compass Point upped their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. BTIG Research lowered shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America upped their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded American Express from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $259.45.

American Express Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded up $1.89 during trading on Friday, hitting $302.19. 1,661,117 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,856,218. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $285.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $259.21. American Express has a 1-year low of $175.60 and a 1-year high of $307.82. The firm has a market cap of $212.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.23, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The company 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. Equities analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. American Express's dividend payout ratio is 20.60%.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

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.