State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 2,625 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 210,270 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 2,625 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in American Express were worth $62,406,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,483,512 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $3,104,735,000 after purchasing an additional 86,100 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in American Express by 8.5% during 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in American Express by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,606,986 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,249,415,000 after acquiring an additional 239,173 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in American Express by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,960,842 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,074,168,000 after acquiring an additional 33,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in American Express by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $655,137,000 after acquiring an additional 247,864 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of several research reports. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. HSBC boosted their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut American Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $296.38.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP traded down $5.84 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $304.08. 2,829,543 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,457,491. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company's fifty day moving average price is $307.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $283.65. American Express has a 52-week low of $209.10 and a 52-week high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its 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, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.99%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value 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 approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

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.