Research Analysts’ Weekly Ratings Changes for American Express (AXP)

Several analysts have recently updated their ratings and price targets for American Express (NYSE: AXP):

• 1/1/2025 – American Express was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating.
• 12/21/2024 – American Express was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating.
• 12/19/2024 – American Express had its price target raised by analysts at Compass Point from $315.00 to $325.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 12/19/2024 – American Express had its price target raised by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $252.00 to $305.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 12/19/2024 – American Express had its price target raised by analysts at Monness Crespi & Hardt from $300.00 to $330.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 12/12/2024 – American Express was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating.
• 12/10/2024 – American Express had its price target raised by analysts at Compass Point from $260.00 to $315.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 12/9/2024 – American Express had its price target raised by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $325.00 to $350.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 12/9/2024 – American Express had its price target raised by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $286.00 to $301.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 12/3/2024 – American Express was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating.
• 11/25/2024 – American Express was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $298.43 on Friday. American Express has a 1-year low of $177.81 and a 1-year high of $307.82. The stock has a market cap of $210.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $293.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $266.13. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Express

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 653,012 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $177,097,000 after purchasing an additional 28,371 shares during the period. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth about $242,000. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $473,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,699,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 575,969 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $159,267,000 after acquiring an additional 35,211 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

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.