Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Trims Position in American Express Company $AXP

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lowered its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 4.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 180,105 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 9,344 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in American Express were worth $60,131,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,425,262 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $14,808,730,000 after buying an additional 581,369 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 11.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,487,316 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,282,984,000 after buying an additional 1,349,746 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in American Express in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,897,335,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in American Express by 3.0% in the second quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,620,873 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,473,966,000 after acquiring an additional 133,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in American Express by 13.9% in the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,342,556 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,385,188,000 after acquiring an additional 530,967 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. HSBC set a $295.00 target price on American Express and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Credit Suisse Group set a $328.00 target price on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Compass Point reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $324.00 price target on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $353.95.

American Express Price Performance

AXP opened at $361.76 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $368.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $342.30. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $387.49. The firm has a market cap of $249.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.28, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.15. 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 quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The payment services company reported ($11.85) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.56 by ($15.41). The business had revenue of ($17,139.00) million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.91 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 14.97%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.01%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, CMO Elizabeth Rutledge sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.21, for a total transaction of $18,010,500.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 85,577 shares in the company, valued at $30,825,691.17. This represents a 36.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Company Profile

American Express is a global financial services company primarily known for its payment card products, travel services and merchant network. Founded in 1850 as an express mail business, the company evolved through the 20th century into a payments and travel-focused organization. Its core activities include issuing consumer and commercial charge and credit cards, operating a global card acceptance and processing network, and providing travel-related services and customer loyalty programs.

American Express issues a range of products for individuals, small businesses and large corporations, including personal cards, business and corporate cards, and co?brand partnerships with airlines, hotels and retailers.