Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Acquires 7,528 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 579,142 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,528 shares during the quarter. American Express comprises 1.2% of Clark Capital Management Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of American Express worth $171,884,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,142 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $636,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC increased its stake in American Express by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $996,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC raised its position in American Express by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 4,007 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its position in American Express by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 4,054 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,203,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foster & Motley Inc. lifted its stake in American Express by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 1,716 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

American Express Stock Up 0.3 %

AXP traded up $0.77 during trading on Friday, hitting $284.43. 2,704,444 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,831,314. American Express has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $326.28. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $263.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $287.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.30, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.33 EPS. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This is a positive change from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. American Express's payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Baird R W raised shares of American Express from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Compass Point reduced their price objective on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $295.05.

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.