American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) Insider Anna Marrs Sells 5,500 Shares

Key Points

• Anna Marrs, an insider at American Express, sold 5,500 shares at an average price of $310.77, totaling approximately $1.71 million, and decreased her position by 21.31%.
• American Express reported a Q2 earnings per share of $4.08, surpassing estimates by $0.22, with revenue also exceeding expectations at $17.86 billion.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, which will be paid on August 8th, reflecting a 1.1% dividend yield.

American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. This trade represents a 21.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

American Express Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of AXP stock traded down $4.22 on Thursday, hitting $299.19. The company had a trading volume of 2,713,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,982,430. The firm has a market cap of $208.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.25. The stock's 50-day moving average is $305.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $291.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $329.14.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.70 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.49 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.02%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of American Express in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the second quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new stake in American Express in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $327.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on shares of American Express and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $311.05.

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.

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