American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lowered its holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 30.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 228,470 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 100,400 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in American Express were worth $61,470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AXP. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following the sale, the insider owned 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of American Express stock traded up $2.75 during trading on Friday, hitting $328.36. The stock had a trading volume of 1,541,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,843,582. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $294.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $289.65. The stock has a market cap of $230.05 billion, a PE ratio of 22.93, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.25. 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 Company has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $329.14.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 target price on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America raised shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $295.25.

American Express 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.