American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Alberta Investment Management Corp

Alberta Investment Management Corp lessened its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 185,000 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 12,800 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in American Express were worth $54,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $312.52 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $307.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $283.46. American Express has a twelve month low of $209.10 and a twelve month high of $326.27. The company has a market capitalization of $220.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is 19.99%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, 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 in the company, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

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.