American Express (NYSE:AXP) Rating Increased to Neutral at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. Robert W. Baird currently has $265.00 target price on the payment services company’s stock.

AXP has been the topic of several other research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $299.24.

American Express Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $266.04 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $186.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $301.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $288.41. American Express has a 1 year low of $214.51 and a 1 year high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.82 dividend. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.41%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

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.