American Express (NYSE:AXP) Insider Raymond Joabar Sells 15,179 Shares

American Express (NYSE:AXP) insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $318.84 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a market cap of $224.61 billion, a PE ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12-month low of $199.88 and a 12-month high of $326.27. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $304.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $276.54.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. Analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,142 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $636,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Catalina Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $996,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Auxier Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.5% during the third quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,934,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Abel Hall LLC boosted its position in American Express by 3.6% in the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its holdings in American Express by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 4,054 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,203,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Compass Point decreased their price target on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $294.95.

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.