Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. Sells 6,230 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. cut its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,060 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 6,230 shares during the quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.'s holdings in American Express were worth $14,857,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $832,000. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in American Express by 430.6% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,292,000 after acquiring an additional 3,867 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH increased its position in American Express by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 349,937 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $103,858,000 after acquiring an additional 12,364 shares during the period. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI increased 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 worth $25,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,557 shares during the period. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC increased its position in American Express by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 6,451 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,915,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of American Express from $340.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, HSBC increased their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $295.05.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

American Express Trading Down 0.9 %

AXP stock traded down $2.53 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $264.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,939,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,845,934. American Express has a 52 week low of $220.43 and a 52 week high of $326.28. The stock has a market cap of $185.51 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $267.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $287.33.

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

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. This is a boost from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.91%.

About American Express

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.