American Express (NYSE:AXP) Share Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

American Express (NYSE:AXP) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $265.17 and traded as high as $299.70. American Express shares last traded at $297.33, with a volume of 2,392,783 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, HSBC lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $263.68.

American Express Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $209.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $291.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $265.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value 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. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by 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.