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

Cooper Financial Group raised its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 38.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring 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 large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Auxier Asset Management boosted its position in shares of American Express by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of American Express by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners lifted its position in shares of American Express by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 422 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $297.33 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $297.43 and a 200 day moving average of $270.12. The company has a market capitalization of $209.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.88, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12 month low of $177.81 and a 12 month high of $307.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AXP shares. HSBC cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen upped their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Barclays upped their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.