Cooper Financial Group Buys 663 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Cooper Financial Group lifted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 38.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 663 shares during the quarter. Cooper Financial Group’s holdings in American Express were worth $703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in American Express by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 11,402 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,344,000 after buying an additional 1,141 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Express by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 4,334 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,286,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc grew its stake in American Express by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 1,456 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 109,865 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $32,607,000 after acquiring an additional 3,224 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in American Express by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 81,953 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $24,323,000 after purchasing an additional 3,672 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $297.33 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a one year low of $177.81 and a one year high of $307.82. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $297.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $270.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for 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 for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Truist Financial started coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $277.82.

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.