American Express (NYSE:AXP) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on AXP. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. BTIG Research cut shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays raised 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

American Express Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $305.37 on Monday. American Express has a 12-month low of $163.32 and a 12-month high of $305.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $215.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $276.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $253.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 332.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. boosted its position in American Express by 42.2% during the second quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 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.