Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. Decreases Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 9.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,793 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,592 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in American Express by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,037,387,000 after purchasing an additional 41,443 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,112,747,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of American Express by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,855,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $909,575,000 after acquiring an additional 496,153 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $713,202,000 after acquiring an additional 667,695 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of American Express by 62.1% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,399,494 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $449,521,000 after acquiring an additional 919,337 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Jennifer Skyler sold 14,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total value of $3,578,087.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 16,371 shares in the company, valued at $3,957,361.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Skyler sold 14,802 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total transaction of $3,578,087.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,957,361.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,209,855.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 177,717 shares of company stock worth $41,680,999 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $220.30.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $228.30. The company had a trading volume of 743,623 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,031,978. The company has a market capitalization of $164.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.22. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $244.41. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $232.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $212.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.01 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.06%.

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.