Insider Selling: American Express (NYSE:AXP) CFO Sells $1,820,880.00 in Stock

American Express (NYSE:AXP) CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

American Express Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of AXP stock traded down $2.51 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $302.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 871,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,879,267. American Express has a 52-week low of $165.93 and a 52-week high of $307.82. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $280.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $255.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market cap of $212.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.42, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on AXP. BTIG Research lowered American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays raised their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 42.2% in the second quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth about $38,000. 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.