Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Has $15.23 Million Stock Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 0.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 47,745 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in American Express were worth $15,230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the second quarter worth $37,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. bought a new stake in American Express during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the first quarter worth about $37,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on AXP. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $348.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $327.00 price target (up previously from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $323.60.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $316.27 on Monday. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $349.19. The stock has a market cap of $220.09 billion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $322.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $300.36.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The business had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.49 EPS. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.02%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $18,360,145.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,677,527.47. This trade represents a 87.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total transaction of $37,034,041.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 92,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,614,306.60. This trade represents a 54.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express 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.