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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $263.68.

American Express Stock Up 1.9 %

AXP stock opened at $298.65 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $288.92 and a 200-day moving average of $261.89. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $177.81 and a fifty-two week high of $307.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $210.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the 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 in the company, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Auxier Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,934,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Abel Hall LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Express by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 422 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.