Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Boosts Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co boosted its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 34.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,130 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,083 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co's holdings in American Express were worth $2,413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on AXP. Bank of America raised shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Compass Point decreased their price objective on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial cut their target price on American Express from $340.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $295.05.

American Express Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $268.92 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $326.28. The company has a market capitalization of $188.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $264.91 and a 200 day moving average of $286.92.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This is a positive change from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.91%.

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.

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