Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in American Express Company $AXP

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 57,950 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,591,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of American Express from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 target price on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $311.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total value of $5,011,520.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at $2,653,764.83. This trade represents a 65.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at $6,312,049.47. This represents a 21.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 134,219 shares of company stock worth $40,555,901 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $307.01 on Tuesday. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $329.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $307.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $289.90.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.49 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.02%.

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.