American Express (NYSE:AXP) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

American Express (NYSE:AXP) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-three brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $209.52.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. Robert W. Baird cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 8th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 210,920 shares of company stock valued at $45,804,652 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Norges Bank acquired a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,112,747,000. Boston Partners acquired a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $210,540,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in American Express by 62.1% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,399,494 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $449,521,000 after purchasing an additional 919,337 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in American Express by 1,313.2% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 768,769 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,440,210,000 after purchasing an additional 714,370 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in American Express by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $713,202,000 after purchasing an additional 667,695 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $235.60 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $222.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $191.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market cap of $169.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $240.55.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.99 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.06%.

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.