American Express (NYSE:AXP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-two ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $215.00.

AXP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd.

American Express Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $238.18 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $244.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $230.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $204.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Jennifer Skyler sold 14,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total transaction of $3,578,087.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 16,371 shares in the company, valued at $3,957,361.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Skyler sold 14,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total value of $3,578,087.46. Following the sale, the insider now owns 16,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,957,361.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 177,717 shares of company stock worth $41,680,999. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 119.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,993,000 after purchasing an additional 21,508 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 219.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 164,861 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $37,537,000 after purchasing an additional 113,249 shares during the period. Invst LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Invst LLC now owns 8,708 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,982,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. PGGM Investments increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 57.2% in the 1st quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 54,448 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $12,397,000 after purchasing an additional 19,801 shares during the period. Finally, FSA Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $226,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.