USS Investment Management Ltd Sells 4,350 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

USS Investment Management Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 111,776 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 4,350 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in American Express were worth $33,196,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 now directly owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AXP. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, HSBC raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $295.05.

American Express Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $299.10 on Tuesday. American Express has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $326.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The business's fifty day moving average price is $266.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $288.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.55 billion, a PE ratio of 21.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a boost from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. American Express's dividend payout ratio is 22.91%.

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.

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