Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Reduces Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund reduced its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 341 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in American Express were worth $14,161,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in American Express by 8.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after buying an additional 866,110 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 35,213.7% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $86,002,000 after acquiring an additional 316,219 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of American Express by 73.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 707,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $191,842,000 after acquiring an additional 300,138 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $655,137,000 after purchasing an additional 247,864 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 5.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,606,986 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,249,415,000 after purchasing an additional 239,173 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $293.12 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $307.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $285.86. 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 has a one year low of $213.25 and a one year high of $326.27. The company has a market cap of $205.93 billion, a PE ratio of 20.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 19.99%.

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.