Anna Marrs Sells 3,592 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock

American Express (NYSE:AXP) insider Anna Marrs sold 3,592 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.93, for a total transaction of $829,500.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,602,896.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $234.66. The stock had a trading volume of 2,084,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,188,169. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $240.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The company’s 50-day moving average is $224.98 and its 200 day moving average is $195.48. The company has a market capitalization of $168.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 62.5% during the first quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. 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, UBS Group boosted their price target on American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average 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.