Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Sells 286 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. cut its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,921 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 286 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in American Express were worth $5,616,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in American Express by 430.6% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,292,000 after acquiring an additional 3,867 shares in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI boosted its position in American Express by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $25,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,557 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in American Express by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $655,137,000 after purchasing an additional 247,864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $298,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group increased their price objective on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. HSBC boosted their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $291.50.

American Express Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $317.24 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a twelve month low of $199.07 and a twelve month high of $326.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $302.97 and a 200 day moving average of $275.72. The stock has a market cap of $223.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.