National Pension Service Sells 70,649 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

National Pension Service decreased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,082,450 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 70,649 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.15% of American Express worth $321,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,984,208,000 after purchasing an additional 866,110 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 35,213.7% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $86,002,000 after buying an additional 316,219 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in 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 worth $191,842,000 after buying an additional 300,138 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in American Express by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $655,137,000 after acquiring an additional 247,864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in American Express by 5.5% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 239,173 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, HSBC raised their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. This trade 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 corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $293.12 on Wednesday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $307.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $285.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24. American Express has a 1 year low of $213.25 and a 1 year high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend 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.