StockNews.com Downgrades American Express (NYSE:AXP) to Hold

American Express (NYSE:AXP) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on AXP. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $221.00 price target (up previously from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. DZ Bank downgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $201.62.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $218.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.48, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $219.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.37. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $231.69.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16 billion. American Express had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 30.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AXP. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 118,198.3% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,732,068 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,028,913,000 after acquiring an additional 13,720,460 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $911,554,000. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $210,540,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in American Express by 162.6% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,961,999 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $289,885,000 after buying an additional 1,214,731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in American Express by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,272,934 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $987,832,000 after buying an additional 1,132,318 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Company Profile

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.