Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $102.93 Million Stock Position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 382,558 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 4,215 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.05% of American Express worth $102,927,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new position in American Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $296.05.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock traded up $2.08 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $298.50. The stock had a trading volume of 5,687,027 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,835,272. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.13 billion, a PE ratio of 20.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $283.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $288.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.33 earnings per share. Analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% 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.