Coign Capital Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Coign Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,171 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $644,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Heritage Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,913,000. Family Office Research LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc acquired a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $413,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in American Express by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 304,439 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $90,354,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in American Express by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,084 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $915,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $246.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $173.24 billion, a PE ratio of 17.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. American Express has a 12 month low of $214.51 and a 12 month high of $326.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $280.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $288.37.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.82 dividend. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.41%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at $998,593. This represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Argus downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group increased 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, January 13th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $299.24.

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.