Stephen J. Squeri Sells 38,873 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock

American Express (NYSE:AXP) CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were 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 owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

American Express Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:AXP opened at $237.10 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $222.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $190.85. The company has a market cap of $170.55 billion, a PE ratio of 19.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $240.55.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.98 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, April 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $209.52.

Institutional Trading of American Express

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $1,112,747,000. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in American Express during the third quarter valued at $210,540,000. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in American Express by 62.1% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,399,494 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $449,521,000 after buying an additional 919,337 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in American Express by 1,313.2% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 768,769 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,440,210,000 after buying an additional 714,370 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in American Express by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $713,202,000 after buying an additional 667,695 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Company 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.