American Express (NYSE:AXP) CEO Stephen J. Squeri Sells 38,873 Shares

American Express (NYSE:AXP) CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $235.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $169.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $240.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.62. The business’s fifty day moving average is $222.57 and its 200-day moving average is $191.74.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of American Express

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens raised American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $148.00 to $193.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $209.52.

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.