Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida Buys Shares of 934 American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida acquired 934 shares of American Express Company, valued at approximately $298,000, solidifying its stake during the second quarter.
• Several institutional investors increased their ownership in American Express, with Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. enhancing its stake by 4.1% during the same period, now owning shares worth around $3.8 million.
• American Express recently experienced a decline in stock price, opening at $325.48 with a market cap of $226.50 billion, and an average price target set by analysts at $313.45.

Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida bought a new stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 934 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $298,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in American Express by 4.1% during the second quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 11,934 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $3,807,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders increased its stake in American Express by 4.7% during the second quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 8,394 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $2,678,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. Goldstone Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the second quarter worth about $210,000. Apella Capital LLC increased its stake in American Express by 308.0% during the second quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 4,047 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,306,000 after purchasing an additional 3,055 shares during the period. Finally, First International Bank & Trust increased its stake in American Express by 1.8% during the second quarter. First International Bank & Trust now owns 5,071 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,618,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AXP. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered shares of American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. DZ Bank lowered shares of American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $313.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total value of $7,671,326.85. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 123,613 shares in the company, valued at $40,343,574.81. This represents a 15.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total transaction of $37,034,041.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 92,810 shares in the company, valued at $30,614,306.60. This represents a 54.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Down 1.2%

AXP stock opened at $325.48 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.84, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $332.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. The company's 50 day moving average price is $313.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $291.89.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The firm's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.49 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.02%.

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.

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