American Express (NYSE:AXP) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

American Express (NYSE:AXP) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty-four brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fifteen have issued a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $295.05.

Several brokerages recently commented on AXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America upgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,251. This trade represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,593. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in American Express by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,142 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC grew its position in American Express by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $996,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC grew its position in American Express by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 4,007 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. grew its position in American Express by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 4,054 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,203,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foster & Motley Inc. grew its position in American Express by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 1,716 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $284.43 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.30, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $326.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $263.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $287.22.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.91%.

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.