Coleford Investment Management Ltd. Takes $27.78 Million Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Coleford Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 93,613 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $27,783,000. American Express accounts for 7.3% of Coleford Investment Management Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AXP. StockNews.com cut American Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial cut their target price on American Express from $350.00 to $343.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of American Express in a report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $290.90.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock traded up $9.18 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $251.69. The stock had a trading volume of 751,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,865,492. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market cap of $176.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.98, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a fifty day moving average of $271.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $287.61.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a positive change from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express's payout ratio is 22.91%.

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.