American Express (NYSE:AXP) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-four research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $281.00.

A number of analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AXP. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 26,783.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,467,210,000 after buying an additional 906,353 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 8.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 59,816.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $185,079,000 after acquiring an additional 681,304 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 35,213.7% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $86,002,000 after purchasing an additional 316,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 73.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 707,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $191,842,000 after purchasing an additional 300,138 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 1.5 %

AXP opened at $320.87 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $226.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 1.51 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. The company’s 50 day moving average is $302.35 and its 200-day moving average is $274.92. American Express has a 1-year low of $186.43 and a 1-year high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. American Express’s payout ratio is 19.99%.

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.