Insider Selling: American Express (NYSE:AXP) Vice Chairman Sells 13,111 Shares of Stock

American Express (NYSE:AXP) Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % 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 Down 1.1 %

NYSE:AXP traded down $3.10 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $270.98. 1,118,159 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,912,330. The company has a fifty day moving average of $265.14 and a 200 day moving average of $246.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $190.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a twelve month low of $143.07 and a twelve month high of $286.36.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AXP. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. boosted its position in American Express by 42.2% during the second quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new position in American Express during the first quarter worth approximately $40,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.