Clifford Capital Partners LLC Sells 15,492 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Clifford Capital Partners LLC decreased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 17.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,832 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 15,492 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up about 3.7% of Clifford Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Clifford Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $17,096,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 62.5% during the first quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $231.43.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $268.53 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $193.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $252.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $239.55. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $272.68.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.60 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.89 EPS. Analysts expect that American Express will post 13.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.06%.

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.