Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Makes New $14.43 Million Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 53,190 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $14,425,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. increased its position in shares of American Express by 42.2% in the second quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in American Express during the third quarter worth about $48,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company's stock, 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. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut American Express from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. HSBC lowered American Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $253.09.

American Express Stock Up 0.7 %

AXP stock opened at $287.65 on Thursday. 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 fifty-two week low of $161.73 and a fifty-two week high of $296.83. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $274.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $252.35. The company has a market cap of $202.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.47 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. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express's payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.