Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Invests $280,000 in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC bought a new position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,040 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $280,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of AXP traded up $2.08 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $298.50. 5,687,027 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,835,272. The company's fifty day moving average price is $283.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $288.77. The company has a market capitalization of $209.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express Company has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.33 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AXP. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America upgraded shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $296.05.

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.