American Express (NYSE:AXP) Insider Sells $829,500.56 in Stock

American Express (NYSE:AXP) insider Anna Marrs sold 3,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.93, for a total value of $829,500.56. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,602,896.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

American Express Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $234.62 on Wednesday. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $240.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $225.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $196.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.76 billion, a PE ratio of 19.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $221.00 price target (up previously from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. TD Cowen upped their price target on American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have given 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 $210.71.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in American Express by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,489 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $371,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Express by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,995 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,790,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in American Express by 258.9% in the 3rd quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,552 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 1,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in American Express by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,162 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $770,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.