California State Teachers Retirement System Cuts Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 885,975 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 37,001 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.13% of American Express worth $262,949,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. 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 recent analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their target price on American Express from $340.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. HSBC lifted their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Baird R W upgraded shares of American Express from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America raised shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $295.05.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP traded up $2.51 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $268.92. The stock had a trading volume of 2,473,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,826,022. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. American Express has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $326.28. The business has a fifty day moving average of $265.44 and a 200 day moving average of $286.97. The firm has a market cap of $188.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.19, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.33 EPS. Equities analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a boost from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express's payout ratio is presently 22.91%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company'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 completion of 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. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.