American Express (NYSE:AXP) Sets New 1-Year Low After Insider Selling

American Express (NYSE:AXP)'s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $257.21 and last traded at $266.61, with a volume of 3518538 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $267.02.

Specifically, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Baird R W raised shares of American Express from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BTIG Research dropped their target price on American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $295.05.

American Express Trading Up 3.2 %

The business's 50 day simple moving average is $264.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $286.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The company has a market capitalization of $194.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.33 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. This is an increase from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.91%.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Norges Bank acquired a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,785,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in shares of American Express by 463.3% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,357,487 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,293,259,000 after purchasing an additional 3,583,959 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 27,625.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $581,914,000 after buying an additional 2,155,045 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in American Express by 186.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $886,426,000 after buying an additional 1,943,463 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 346.2% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,021,873 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $600,072,000 after buying an additional 1,568,747 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

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.