American Express (NYSE:AXP) Insider Anre D. Williams Sells 77,887 Shares

American Express (NYSE:AXP) insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock opened at $269.96 on Friday. American Express has a 1-year low of $141.02 and a 1-year high of $286.36. The firm has a market cap of $194.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $263.16 and a 200-day moving average of $244.92.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in American Express by 8.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,923,399,000 after buying an additional 662,382 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in American Express by 8.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $590,940,000 after buying an additional 195,876 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of American Express by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $485,525,000 after buying an additional 387,166 shares during the period. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in American Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $433,709,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in American Express by 14.2% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,798,742 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $408,494,000 after purchasing an additional 224,079 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

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.