American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

American Express (NYSE:AXP)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $285.78, but opened at $276.80. American Express shares last traded at $271.50, with a volume of 2,400,065 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. HSBC downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $223.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $242.33.

American Express Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $261.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $243.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 119.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,993,000 after buying an additional 21,508 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 102.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,842,000 after purchasing an additional 6,329 shares in the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP bought a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter worth $1,881,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group lifted its position in American Express by 2,196.4% during the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 7,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its holdings in American Express by 15.5% during the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 35,763 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,143,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.