Cozad Asset Management Inc. Raises Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 35.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,756 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 979 shares during the quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $832,000. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Express by 430.6% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH increased its stake in American Express by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 349,937 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $103,858,000 after purchasing an additional 12,364 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI increased its stake in American Express by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $25,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC increased its stake in American Express by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 6,451 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was 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 directly owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $998,593. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $299.24.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $264.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $185.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.87, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 1-year low of $214.51 and a 1-year high of $326.28. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $300.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $288.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share 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. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.41%.

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.