Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Grows Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. grew its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,207 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in American Express were worth $5,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in American Express by 8.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,923,399,000 after purchasing an additional 662,382 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of American Express by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $590,940,000 after purchasing an additional 195,876 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in American Express by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $485,525,000 after purchasing an additional 387,166 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter worth about $433,709,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in American Express by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,798,742 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $408,494,000 after buying an additional 224,079 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.6 %

AXP stock traded up $1.78 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $279.09. 175,213 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,892,000. The company has a 50-day moving average of $258.39 and a 200-day moving average of $242.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. American Express has a 1 year low of $140.91 and a 1 year high of $281.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $200.75 billion, a PE ratio of 22.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.23. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The firm had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on American Express from $226.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $242.33.

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.