CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Has $11.90 Million Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co trimmed its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 49.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,079 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 38,849 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co's holdings in American Express were worth $11,896,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,752,084 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $3,484,312,000 after acquiring an additional 268,572 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in American Express by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,761,336 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $2,600,277,000 after purchasing an additional 95,927 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $1,785,867,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,878,434 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,151,080,000 after buying an additional 14,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of American Express by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $655,137,000 after buying an additional 247,864 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at $998,593. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on AXP shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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 boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of American Express from $340.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $295.05.

American Express Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE:AXP traded down $2.53 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $264.79. 1,939,224 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,848,443. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $268.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $287.14. The firm has a market cap of $185.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a boost from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.