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 American Express 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

American Express Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $235.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.62. The company has a market cap of $169.47 billion, a PE ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $240.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $222.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $191.45.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that American Express will post 12.99 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Park Place Capital Corp increased its stake in shares of American Express by 382.6% during the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 333 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 92.7% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,880 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 3,791 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 44,386 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $6,622,000 after purchasing an additional 2,553 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in shares of American Express by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 225,355 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $33,621,000 after purchasing an additional 1,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 2,734 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $209.52.

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.