Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Grows Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. boosted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,553 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,813 shares during the period. American Express comprises 1.7% of Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,862,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in American Express by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,923,399,000 after purchasing an additional 662,382 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in American Express by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $590,940,000 after purchasing an additional 195,876 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in American Express by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $485,525,000 after purchasing an additional 387,166 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $433,709,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in American Express by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,798,742 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $408,494,000 after purchasing an additional 224,079 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. HSBC downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. BTIG Research downgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

American Express Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:AXP traded up $2.71 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $270.06. The company had a trading volume of 466,029 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,921,206. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $263.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $245.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. American Express has a 1 year low of $141.73 and a 1 year high of $286.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $194.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.02, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.06%.

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.