Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Decreases Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund decreased its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,628 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,700 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. XML Financial LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 9.8% in the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 119.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,993,000 after acquiring an additional 21,508 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its stake in shares of American Express by 2,196.4% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 7,885 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 33.1% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 54,318 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $12,368,000 after purchasing an additional 13,520 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 41.3% during the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 701 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE AXP opened at $286.80 on Friday. American Express has a one year low of $157.97 and a one year high of $296.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The company has a market capitalization of $202.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $272.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $251.09.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. BTIG Research cut shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About American Express

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.