Truist Financial Begins Coverage on American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price target on the payment services company’s stock. Truist Financial’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 15.59% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on AXP. Compass Point upped their price target on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. BTIG Research lowered shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $272.64.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $302.80 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.31 billion, a PE ratio of 22.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. 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 has a 1-year low of $177.81 and a 1-year high of $307.82. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $295.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $268.42.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. 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. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other 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.