American Express (NYSE:AXP) Sees Large Volume Increase After Earnings Beat

American Express (NYSE:AXP) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. 1,546,015 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 36% from the previous session’s volume of 2,420,010 shares.The stock last traded at $317.02 and had previously closed at $325.87.

The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. BTIG Research lowered shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $278.09.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AXP. Auxier Asset Management increased its stake in American Express by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Abel Hall LLC increased its stake in American Express by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its stake in American Express by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 4,054 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc. increased its stake in American Express by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 1,716 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $509,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Insight Inv LLC increased its stake in American Express by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 12,017 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,567,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 2.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a market capitalization of $223.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $300.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $273.70.

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.