William Blair Reiterates Outperform Rating for American Express (NYSE:AXP)

American Express (NYSE:AXP)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by stock analysts at William Blair in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, RTT News reports.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on AXP. Stephens upgraded American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $148.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. HSBC raised their target price on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $209.52.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP traded down $0.98 during trading on Friday, hitting $236.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,517,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,176,836. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $240.55. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $222.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $190.85. The firm has a market cap of $169.84 billion, a PE ratio of 19.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 210,920 shares of company stock valued at $45,804,652 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Venture Visionary Partners LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 23,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,349,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 417.3% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 415,696 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $77,876,000 after purchasing an additional 335,338 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $2,460,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,806 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,837,000 after purchasing an additional 2,572 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 1,313.2% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 768,769 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,440,210,000 after purchasing an additional 714,370 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.