Quinn Jessica Lieberman Sells 3,141 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock

American Express (NYSE:AXP) EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.36, for a total value of $729,842.76. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,948.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $236.09 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $225.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $196.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. 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 $169.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.45, 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth $1,112,747,000. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth about $433,709,000. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth about $210,540,000. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in American Express by 62.1% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,399,494 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $449,521,000 after purchasing an additional 919,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in American Express by 1,313.2% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 768,769 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,440,210,000 after purchasing an additional 714,370 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AXP. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $253.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.