American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday morning.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on AXP. TD Cowen raised their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Barclays raised their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, HSBC cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $304.28 on Monday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $214.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a one year low of $163.61 and a one year high of $307.82. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $278.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $254.61.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the third 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 during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 42.2% in the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

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.