American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Bought by Toronto Dominion Bank

Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 27.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 301,155 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,507 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in American Express were worth $81,673,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Financial Avengers Inc. purchased a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,883,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in American Express by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,563 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,961,000 after purchasing an additional 1,413 shares in the last quarter. RB Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 24.4% during the 3rd quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,274 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,483,512 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,104,735,000 after purchasing an additional 86,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,533,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Compass Point lifted their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $259.45.

American Express Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:AXP opened at $302.16 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $212.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.23, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 1 year low of $167.77 and a 1 year high of $307.82. The business has a fifty day moving average of $284.00 and a 200-day moving average of $258.17.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. American Express’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that American Express will post 13.39 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were 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 approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.