American Express (NYSE:AXP) Upgraded to “Buy” by 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 Tuesday.

AXP has been the subject of several other reports. HSBC increased their price objective on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen raised their price target on American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised American Express from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $245.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $209.52.

American Express Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $235.60 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $222.57 and its 200 day moving average is $191.45. The firm has a market cap of $169.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $240.55.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at $18,209,855.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at $18,209,855.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 210,920 shares of company stock worth $45,804,652 over the last three months. Company 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. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,037,387,000 after purchasing an additional 41,443 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,112,747,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,855,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $909,575,000 after acquiring an additional 496,153 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $713,202,000 after acquiring an additional 667,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 1.9% in the third quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 3,572,743 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $533,018,000 after purchasing an additional 67,575 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.