Laureen Seeger Sells 16,998 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) Stock

Key Points

• Laureen Seeger, American Express insider, sold 16,998 shares at an average price of $294.83, totaling over $5 million and reducing her position by 65.38%.
• The company reported earnings per share of $4.08 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.86, with revenues increasing by 9.3% year over year.
• American Express has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 1.1%, with an ex-dividend date on July 3rd.

American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total transaction of $5,011,520.34. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,653,764.83. This trade represents a 65.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Laureen Seeger also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, August 5th, Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of American Express stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $18,360,145.87.

American Express Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:AXP opened at $294.82 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.69, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $306.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $291.05. American Express Company has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $329.14.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.02%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of American Express during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at about $34,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price objective on shares of American Express and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Bank of America raised shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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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