American Express (NYSE:AXP) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

American Express (NYSE:AXP) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

AXP has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Compass Point upped their target price on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $263.68.

American Express Stock Up 1.9 %

AXP opened at $298.65 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $288.92 and a 200-day moving average of $261.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $210.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a 1-year low of $177.81 and a 1-year high of $307.82.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Express by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 653,012 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $177,097,000 after acquiring an additional 28,371 shares during the last quarter. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $242,000. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in American Express in the third quarter worth $473,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth $5,699,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 575,969 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $159,267,000 after buying an additional 35,211 shares during the period. 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.