Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. Has $14.86 Million Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. trimmed its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 11.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor 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 reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in American Express by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,752,084 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $3,484,312,000 after purchasing an additional 268,572 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $2,600,277,000 after purchasing an additional 95,927 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,785,867,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in American Express by 0.4% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its stake in American Express by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,704,271 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,099,391,000 after acquiring an additional 74,977 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup cut their target price on American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. BTIG Research cut their price target on shares of American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Redburn Atlantic upgraded American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $295.05.

American Express Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:AXP traded down $2.53 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $264.79. 1,939,224 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,846,523. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. American Express has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $326.28. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $267.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $287.11. 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 announced 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. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.91%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.