Investors Purchase High Volume of American Express Call Options (NYSE:AXP)

American Express (NYSE:AXP) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 19,916 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 36% compared to the typical daily volume of 14,641 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. HSBC lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $278.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd 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. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.9 %

American Express stock opened at $325.12 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $300.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $273.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a 12 month low of $185.73 and a 12 month high of $326.28. The stock has a market cap of $229.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.23.

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 given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.60%.

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.