Utah Retirement Systems Acquires 100 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Utah Retirement Systems increased its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,022 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Utah Retirement Systems’ holdings in American Express were worth $27,608,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BTIG Research dropped their price objective on American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $295.05.

American Express Price Performance

AXP opened at $267.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $266.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $287.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a market cap of $187.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. American Express has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.33 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.91%.

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.