Strs Ohio Makes New Investment in American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Strs Ohio has acquired a new position in American Express Company, purchasing 195,089 shares valued at approximately $52.5 million in the first quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed opinions on AXP's stock, with Barclays raising their price target from $249 to $297, while DZ Bank downgraded it from "hold" to "sell."
• American Express recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.0%.

Strs Ohio purchased a new position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 195,089 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $52,489,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on AXP. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $327.00 price target (up previously from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $313.45.

American Express Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $323.46 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The company has a market cap of $225.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.70, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $332.46. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $313.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $291.47.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were 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 approximately $6,312,049.47. This trade represents a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total transaction of $7,671,326.85. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 123,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,343,574.81. This trade represents a 15.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.

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