M&T Bank Corp Sells 126,533 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

M&T Bank Corp lowered its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 72.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 48,439 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 126,533 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in American Express were worth $13,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. XML Financial LLC boosted its position in American Express by 9.8% during the third 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 boosted its position in American Express by 2,196.4% during the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 7,885 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its position in American Express by 41.3% during the second quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 701 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in American Express by 4.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 653,012 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $177,097,000 after purchasing an additional 28,371 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in American Express by 1.7% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 239,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $64,820,000 after purchasing an additional 3,912 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of AXP opened at $302.16 on Wednesday. American Express has a 1-year low of $167.77 and a 1-year high of $307.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $284.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $258.17. The company has a market capitalization of $212.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.39 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. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. BTIG Research lowered shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $259.45.

American Express Company 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.