Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Purchases 2,185 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 121,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 2,185 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $22,693,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Venture Visionary Partners LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 23,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,349,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. increased its position in American Express by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 11,587 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,171,000 after buying an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in American Express by 417.3% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 415,696 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $77,876,000 after buying an additional 335,338 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $2,460,000. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,806 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,837,000 after acquiring an additional 2,572 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AXP. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen raised their target price on American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $221.00 price target (up previously from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,480.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 203,891 shares of company stock worth $44,373,196. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP traded down $1.73 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $230.77. The stock had a trading volume of 3,203,304 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,577,762. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $224.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.88. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $240.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

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.