New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Sells 800 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lessened its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 25,963 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in American Express were worth $6,985,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Trillium Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 2,449 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $727,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in American Express by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,510 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $448,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Arista Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,275 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $675,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc lifted its holdings in American Express by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 2,967 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $880,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, CFO4Life Group LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 3,410 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on AXP. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Argus lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 9,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 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. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $317.26 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $222.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.25. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $297.78 and its 200 day moving average is $290.19. American Express Company has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $329.14.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.91%.

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.