Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Has $11.79 Million Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd reduced its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,464 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in American Express were worth $11,787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 42.2% in the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth about $48,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. HSBC downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded shares of 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $305.37 on Tuesday. American Express has a 52 week low of $163.32 and a 52 week high of $305.80. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $276.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $253.82. The firm has a market cap of $215.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. American Express’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.