American Express Company $AXP Shares Sold by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. reduced its stake in American Express by 2.9% in Q1, now holding 46,454 shares valued at approximately $12.5 million.
• American Express will post an estimated 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year after reporting a Q2 EPS of $4.08, which surpassed analysts' expectations.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.0% and a payout ratio of 23.02%.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. cut its holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 46,454 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 1,408 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in American Express were worth $12,498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AXP. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $327.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $313.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total value of $7,671,326.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 123,613 shares in the company, valued at $40,343,574.81. This represents a 15.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded down $0.88 on Wednesday, hitting $323.46. The company had a trading volume of 1,846,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,295,366. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express Company has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $332.46. The business has a 50 day moving average of $313.32 and a 200 day moving average of $291.47. The company has a market cap of $225.09 billion, a PE ratio of 22.70, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The business had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.49 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.02%.

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.