Insider Selling: American Express (NYSE:AXP) Vice Chairman Sells 117,309 Shares of Stock

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

American Express Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:AXP opened at $234.62 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $225.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.14. The stock has a market cap of $168.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20. American Express has a 1 year low of $140.91 and a 1 year high of $240.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.70 per share. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

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

AXP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on American Express from $253.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus 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.