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

American Express (NYSE:AXP) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-five research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $253.09.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. HSBC lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % 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 Trading of American Express

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. lifted its position in American Express by 42.2% during the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock opened at $286.87 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $202.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.21. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $272.31 and a 200-day moving average of $251.34. American Express has a 52 week low of $157.97 and a 52 week high of $296.83.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. On average, analysts expect that American Express will post 13.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. 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.