American Express (NYSE:AXP) Vice Chairman Sells $27,267,303.96 in Stock

American Express (NYSE:AXP) Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total value of $27,267,303.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 110,318 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,642,315.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

American Express Trading Up 1.5 %

AXP traded up $3.52 during trading on Monday, reaching $234.29. 2,259,187 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,200,852. The company's fifty day moving average price is $224.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $195.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $240.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.52 billion, a PE ratio of 19.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $221.00 price objective (up from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, HSBC raised their price target on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $210.71.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.