Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $71.38 Million Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 5.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 263,194 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,403 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in American Express were worth $71,378,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Auxier Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.5% during the third quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,934,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in American Express by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 10.5% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 422 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sawgrass Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 0.4% in the second quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 10,384 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,404,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America lifted their target price on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 1.2 %

AXP stock opened at $303.99 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $283.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $257.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $167.57 and a fifty-two week high of $307.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.39 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

American Express Company 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.