CIBC Asset Management Inc Increases Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 106,158 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,906 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in American Express were worth $28,790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Foundation Advisors increased its position in shares of American Express by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 3,261 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $743,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the first quarter worth $272,000. Hutner Capital Management Inc. increased its position in American Express by 0.8% during the first quarter. Hutner Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,777 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $5,186,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in shares of American Express by 415.0% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 15,317 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,488,000 after acquiring an additional 12,343 shares during the period. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 823.5% in the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 628 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AXP. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. BTIG Research lowered American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, HSBC downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

American Express Trading Down 0.5 %

AXP opened at $286.80 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 market cap of $202.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.10, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 12 month low of $157.97 and a 12 month high of $296.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $271.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $250.75.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.