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

American Express (NYSE:AXP) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-five brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $253.09.

A number of research firms recently commented on AXP. HSBC downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com raised American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th.

American Express Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:AXP opened at $303.99 on Friday. American Express has a 1 year low of $167.57 and a 1 year high of $307.82. The stock has a market cap of $214.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.37, 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 quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $283.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $257.61.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.39 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth $5,699,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express by 6.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 575,969 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $159,267,000 after buying an additional 35,211 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of American Express by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 63,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $17,161,000 after buying an additional 5,476 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of American Express by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 23,491 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $6,370,000 after buying an additional 856 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 58.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 44,390 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $12,039,000 after buying an additional 16,321 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

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.