American Express (NYSE:AXP) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-three brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $209.52.

Several analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. DZ Bank lowered American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com upgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd.

American Express Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $235.60 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market cap of $169.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $240.55. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $222.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $191.45.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the business’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 directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,480.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 210,920 shares of company stock valued at $45,804,652 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the third quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.