American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. lowered its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 15.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,916 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,637 shares during the quarter. American Express comprises 1.6% of Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $182,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in American Express by 33.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 7,156 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,128,000 after buying an additional 1,795 shares in the last quarter. Maia Wealth LLC raised its stake in American Express by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 1,392 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. BlueStem Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $210,000. Finally, Sharkey Howes & Javer raised its position in shares of American Express by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Sharkey Howes & Javer now owns 2,386 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $708,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. BTIG Research increased their price target on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $300.77 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $307.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $286.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market cap of $211.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.47, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24. American Express has a 1 year low of $214.51 and a 1 year high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.99%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.