Copley Financial Group Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,743 American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,743 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter valued at about $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock traded up $2.89 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $303.19. The company had a trading volume of 245,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,849,886. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $285.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $259.21. American Express has a one year low of $175.60 and a one year high of $307.82. The firm has a market cap of $213.58 billion, a PE ratio of 22.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 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 revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. Sell-side 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com raised American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. HSBC cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $259.45.

American Express 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.