CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Sells 33,129 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lowered its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 233,938 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 33,129 shares during the quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $31,562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Express by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 44,553,661 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $6,010,732,000 after acquiring an additional 665,857 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,525,852 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $880,402,000 after acquiring an additional 602,762 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in American Express by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,928,905 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $683,249,000 after purchasing an additional 115,738 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in American Express by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,807,168 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $666,377,000 after purchasing an additional 675,971 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd grew its position in American Express by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 3,590,736 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $484,426,000 after purchasing an additional 38,706 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 5,456 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.52, for a total value of $952,181.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,229,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Monique Herena sold 15,217 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.18, for a total transaction of $2,635,280.06. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,712 shares in the company, valued at $2,374,644.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 5,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.52, for a total value of $952,181.12. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,045 shares in the company, valued at $1,229,493.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 49,361 shares of company stock worth $8,773,678. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of American Express from $170.00 to $166.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 15th. Stephens downgraded shares of American Express from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $134.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, January 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $158.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 30th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $180.00 to $210.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.44.

American Express Trading Up 4.0 %

NYSE AXP opened at $163.91 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.20. American Express has a one year low of $130.65 and a one year high of $194.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The business’s fifty day moving average is $167.44 and its 200-day moving average is $155.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 27th. The payment services company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.25 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 31.76% and a net margin of 14.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.18 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 11.24 EPS for the current year.

American Express announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, March 8th that authorizes the company to buyback 120,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the payment services company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 7th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 5th. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 24.39%.

American Express Profile

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American Express Co engages in the provision of charge and credit card products and travel-related services. It operates through the following segments: U.S Consumer Services (USCS), Commercial Services (CS), International Card Services (ICS), Global Merchant and Network Services (GMNS), and Corporate and Other.