Insider Selling: American Express (NYSE:AXP) CEO Sells 38,873 Shares of Stock

American Express (NYSE:AXP) CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at $18,209,855.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

American Express Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded down $2.02 on Thursday, hitting $237.10. 3,311,667 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,185,836. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $240.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $221.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $190.53. The company has a market cap of $170.55 billion, a PE ratio of 19.59, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that American Express will post 12.98 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $209.52.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of American Express by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,037,387,000 after acquiring an additional 41,443 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth $1,112,747,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in American Express by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,855,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $909,575,000 after buying an additional 496,153 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in American Express by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $713,202,000 after buying an additional 667,695 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd boosted its holdings in American Express by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 3,572,743 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $533,018,000 after buying an additional 67,575 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.