Cooper Financial Group Raises Stock Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

Cooper Financial Group raised its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,012 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the quarter. Cooper Financial Group’s holdings in American Express were worth $961,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.1% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 244,588 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $78,019,000 after buying an additional 5,044 shares during the last quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 28.2% during the 2nd quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $456,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 1.9% in the second quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 13,898 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,433,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. JLB & Associates Inc. boosted its position in American Express by 2.5% during the second quarter. JLB & Associates Inc. now owns 19,083 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $6,087,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, G&S Capital LLC grew its stake in American Express by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 11,385 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,632,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total value of $7,671,326.85. Following the transaction, the insider owned 123,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,343,574.81. This trade represents a 15.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AXP. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on shares of American Express and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of American Express from $311.00 to $362.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $319.95.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $328.76 on Thursday. American Express Company has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $349.19. The stock has a market cap of $228.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $319.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $297.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.70 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The company’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.49 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.02%.

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.