Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 84,184 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky reduced its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 31.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 182,386 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 84,184 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in American Express were worth $49,071,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 at the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Bank of America raised American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $327.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $307.68.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $308.38 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $304.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $291.09. The firm has a market cap of $216.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.25. American Express Company has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $329.14. 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 (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. American Express's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.49 EPS. Research analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business 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 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 1.06%. American Express's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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