American Express (NYSE:AXP) Vice Chairman Sells $27,267,303.96 in Stock

American Express (NYSE:AXP) Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total value of $27,267,303.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 110,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,642,315.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

American Express Stock Up 1.5 %

AXP stock opened at $234.29 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $224.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $195.48. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $240.55. The company has a market cap of $168.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that American Express will post 12.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors 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 yield of 0.17%. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in American Express by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 4,315 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $983,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. CIC Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 3.2% during the first quarter. CIC Wealth LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. HTLF Bank increased its position in American Express by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. HTLF Bank now owns 6,202 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,412,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Aspiriant LLC raised its stake in American Express by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 6,330 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,441,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,490 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on AXP. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $253.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. TD Cowen lifted their target price on American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. HSBC upped their target price on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.71.

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.