Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Buys 4,468 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 3.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 119,992 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,468 shares during the period. American Express comprises 1.4% of Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $38,275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,454,667,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in American Express by 13.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,849,777,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168,445 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in American Express by 25.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,278,711,000 after buying an additional 965,221 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,843,893 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $12,334,299,000 after buying an additional 605,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Provident Trust Co. purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth about $126,119,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total value of $37,034,041.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,614,306.60. The trade was a 54.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,391,191.50. This trade represents a 82.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on AXP. Truist Financial raised their price target on American Express from $375.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of American Express from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $332.65.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $351.68 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.69. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $357.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $328.64 and a 200 day moving average of $304.16. The company has a market cap of $242.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.60, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.29.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The payment services company reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.98 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $18.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.03 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 14.97%.The business’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.49 EPS. American Express has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.200-15.500 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.01%.

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.