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

American Express (NYSE:AXP) insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

American Express Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $267.23 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $263.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $245.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. 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 $192.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.01, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Express by 119.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,993,000 after buying an additional 21,508 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in American Express by 102.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,842,000 after purchasing an additional 6,329 shares during the period. Sciencast Management LP acquired a new stake in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $1,881,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its position in American Express by 2,196.4% in the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 7,885 shares during the period. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 15.5% during the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 35,763 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,143,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. HSBC lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

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.