American Express (NYSE:AXP) EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman Sells 3,141 Shares

American Express (NYSE:AXP) EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.36, for a total transaction of $729,842.76. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 258 shares in the company, valued at $59,948.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $234.62. 2,084,289 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,188,171. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $225.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $196.14. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $240.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Four equities 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 company. According to MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.71.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Spire Wealth Management raised its position in American Express by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 4,315 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $983,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. CIC Wealth LLC raised its position in American Express by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. CIC Wealth LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. HTLF Bank raised its position in American Express by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. HTLF Bank now owns 6,202 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,412,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Aspiriant LLC raised its position in American Express by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 6,330 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,441,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in American Express by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,490 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

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.