California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Stock Position in American Express Company $AXP

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 14.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 967,534 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 165,937 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in American Express were worth $308,624,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 189,746 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $60,526,000 after buying an additional 12,098 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in American Express by 11.0% during the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,614 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $515,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Stenger Family Office LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,034,000. Victory Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 57.5% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC now owns 1,717 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,429 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,051,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $370.39 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $350.69 and its 200 day moving average is $325.33. The stock has a market cap of $255.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.14. American Express Company has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $377.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The payment services company reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.98 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $17.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.03 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 14.97%.American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. American Express has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.200-15.500 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Denise Pickett sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.73, for a total transaction of $1,753,650.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,709,739.98. This trade represents a 39.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Douglas Tabish sold 2,515 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.61, for a total value of $894,359.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 2,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $894,359.15. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 57,515 shares of company stock worth $20,658,509 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 9th. Compass Point restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $324.00 target price on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on American Express from $375.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on American Express from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.