Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida Purchases Shares of 1,216 American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida acquired a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,216 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $361,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Doliver Advisors LP grew its position in shares of American Express by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Doliver Advisors LP now owns 3,633 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of American Express by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $655,137,000 after purchasing an additional 247,864 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,704 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $5,848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,801 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,315,000 after buying an additional 727 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in American Express by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,210 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was 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. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock traded down $1.30 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $301.78. The stock had a trading volume of 2,609,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,996,208. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.59 billion, a PE ratio of 22.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $293.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $267.17. American Express has a 12 month low of $177.81 and a 12 month high of $307.82.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $268.95.

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.