Coleford Investment Management Ltd. Purchases New Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Coleford Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 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 largest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $253.30 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $177.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $275.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $287.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a 1-year low of $216.52 and a 1-year high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Robert W. Baird upgraded American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two 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.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,593. This trade represents a ? increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.