American Express (NYSE:AXP) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-four analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $296.38.

AXP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $832,000. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 430.6% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares during the last quarter. XML Financial LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI grew its holdings in American Express by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $25,626,000 after buying an additional 2,557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in American Express by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,982 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $5,638,000 after buying an additional 2,826 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE AXP opened at $304.08 on Friday. American Express has a 52 week low of $209.10 and a 52 week high of $326.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $307.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $283.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.62 billion, a PE ratio of 21.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. As a group, research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.99%.

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.