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

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. raised its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 23.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,048 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,132 shares during the period. American Express makes up 1.9% of Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,972,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,251. This trade represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on AXP shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. BTIG Research reduced their price target on American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Redburn Atlantic raised American Express from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $305.74.

American Express Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $319.49 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $223.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.25. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $329.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $300.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $290.49.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.48% and a net margin of 15.31%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.33 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

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.