American Express Company $AXP Stake Cut by State of Alaska Department of Revenue

Key Points

• The State of Alaska Department of Revenue reduced its stake in American Express by 3.4%, owning 78,251 shares valued at approximately $24.96 million after selling 2,785 shares in the second quarter.
• American Express has seen significant investment activity, with Vanguard Group and Goldman Sachs increasing their stakes, highlighting continued institutional support as 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
• Analyst consensus ratings for American Express show eight Buy ratings, fifteen Hold ratings, and two Sell ratings, with a consensus price target of $315.20.

State of Alaska Department of Revenue cut its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 78,251 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 2,785 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue's holdings in American Express were worth $24,959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the first quarter valued at $1,454,667,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in American Express by 13.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $4,849,777,000 after buying an additional 2,168,445 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 27,625.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $581,914,000 after buying an additional 2,155,045 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in American Express by 25.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,278,711,000 after buying an additional 965,221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in American Express by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,843,893 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $12,334,299,000 after buying an additional 605,900 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their target price on American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on American Express and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $315.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction of $1,709,235.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,391,191.50. The trade was a 82.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $342.07 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $238.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. American Express Company has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $349.19. The stock's fifty day moving average is $317.46 and its 200-day moving average is $295.81.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.American Express's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.49 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. American Express's payout ratio is presently 23.02%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AXP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.