American Express (NYSE:AXP) Insider Anna Marrs Sells 3,592 Shares

American Express (NYSE:AXP) insider Anna Marrs sold 3,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.93, for a total value of $829,500.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,602,896.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock opened at $236.09 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $225.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.14. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week 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 stock has a market capitalization of $169.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its 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 company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on American Express from $253.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Four 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $210.71.

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.