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

Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-five brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $253.09.

Several research analysts recently commented on AXP shares. Barclays increased their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. BTIG Research cut shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’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 transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Express

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. XML Financial LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,909,000 after buying an additional 7,885 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 41.3% in the second quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 701 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $162,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in American Express by 4.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 653,012 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $177,097,000 after acquiring an additional 28,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G PLC grew its holdings in American Express by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 501,226 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $135,832,000 after acquiring an additional 10,364 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $303.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $167.57 and a fifty-two week high of $307.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.15 billion, a PE ratio of 22.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $283.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $257.61.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. Equities analysts expect that American Express will post 13.39 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

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.