Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of American Express Call Options (NYSE:AXP)

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. BTIG Research lifted their price target on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $281.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, 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 value of $3,552,818.78. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company'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 transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % 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 Trading of American Express

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

American Express Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE AXP traded down $5.00 on Friday, reaching $320.87. The company had a trading volume of 6,256,039 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,769,700. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. The company's fifty day moving average is $301.67 and its 200 day moving average is $274.06. American Express has a 52-week low of $186.43 and a 52-week high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.