American Express (NYSE:AXP) Upgraded at StockNews.com

American Express (NYSE:AXP) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

AXP has been the subject of several other research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $259.45.

American Express Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:AXP opened at $302.19 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $212.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a one year low of $175.60 and a one year high of $307.82. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $285.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $259.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction 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 owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 332.0% in 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. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. 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.