Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $15.31 Million Stock Position in American Express Company $AXP

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 20.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 47,983 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,249 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in American Express were worth $15,306,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at $509,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in American Express by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 60,634 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $16,314,000 after acquiring an additional 3,776 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in American Express by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,267,377 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $721,525,000 after acquiring an additional 49,593 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,185,000. Finally, Dempze Nancy E raised its stake in shares of American Express by 210.2% in the second quarter. Dempze Nancy E now owns 3,459 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,103,000 after acquiring an additional 2,344 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Express Price Performance

AXP opened at $367.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $253.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.27. American Express Company has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $371.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $340.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $315.45.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The payment services company reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by $0.16. American Express had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 14.97%.The firm had revenue of $18.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. American Express has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.200-15.500 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total value of $37,034,041.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,810 shares in the company, valued at $30,614,306.60. This trade represents a 54.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Elizabeth Rutledge sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.21, for a total transaction of $18,010,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 85,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,825,691.17. This represents a 36.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 193,292 shares of company stock valued at $65,363,878 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on American Express from $375.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. UBS Group upped their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on American Express from $343.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $332.65.

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.