National Bank of Canada FI Raises Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 73.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 707,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 300,138 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.10% of American Express worth $191,842,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. XML Financial LLC raised its position in American Express by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group grew its holdings in American Express by 2,196.4% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after acquiring an additional 7,885 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 41.3% during the second quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 701 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 653,012 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $177,097,000 after buying an additional 28,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G PLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 501,226 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $135,832,000 after buying an additional 10,364 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of AXP opened at $304.03 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $282.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $257.08. American Express has a 12-month low of $167.57 and a 12-month high of $307.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.39 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, HSBC downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

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.