American Express (NYSE:AXP) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

American Express (NYSE:AXP) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-three research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $210.71.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,891,480.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 203,891 shares of company stock valued at $44,373,196. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tanager Wealth Management LLP increased its position in American Express by 6.6% during the first quarter. Tanager Wealth Management LLP now owns 3,386 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $771,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in American Express by 0.4% during the first quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,821 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,830,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in American Express by 25.3% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $966,000 after acquiring an additional 856 shares during the last quarter. Centric Wealth Management increased its position in American Express by 9.5% during the first quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 1,534 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $359,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in American Express by 10.1% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 168,981 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,475,000 after acquiring an additional 15,561 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $231.46 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $223.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $193.49. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $240.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.49 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

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

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.06%.

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.