American Express (NYSE:AXP) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

AXP has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays lifted their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $272.64.

American Express Price Performance

AXP opened at $294.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $207.17 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $296.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $269.36. American Express has a 1 year low of $177.81 and a 1 year high of $307.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Auxier Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 3.6% during the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in American Express by 2.7% during the third quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC increased its stake in American Express by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 422 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 40 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.