Bank of America Has Lowered Expectations for American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Price

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its target price decreased by equities research analysts at Bank of America from $326.00 to $325.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the payment services company’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 20.08% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Robert W. Baird raised American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Argus cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. 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 research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $303.52.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $270.66 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $299.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $288.35. The stock has a market cap of $190.15 billion, a PE ratio of 19.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 1-year low of $214.51 and a 1-year high of $326.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,752,084 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,484,312,000 after acquiring an additional 268,572 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after purchasing an additional 866,110 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,761,336 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,600,277,000 after buying an additional 95,927 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,825,135 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,025,632,000 after buying an additional 955,811 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $1,785,867,000. Institutional investors 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.