Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Purchases 2,390 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 304,439 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,390 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina's holdings in American Express were worth $90,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth $832,000. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its position 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 worth $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH raised its position in American Express by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 349,937 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $103,858,000 after acquiring an additional 12,364 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.1% in 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 during the period. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC grew its position in American Express by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 6,451 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,915,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Bank of America upgraded American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $296.81.

American Express Stock Up 1.3 %

AXP traded up $3.25 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $258.63. 1,602,940 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,878,849. The stock has a market cap of $181.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $277.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $288.30. American Express has a twelve month low of $216.51 and a twelve month high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is a positive change from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. American Express's payout ratio is presently 23.41%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.