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

Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-four brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $332.65.

AXP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on American Express from $343.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Compass Point reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $324.00 target price on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, October 20th. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of American Express from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of American Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st.

American Express Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of American Express stock opened at $352.95 on Friday. American Express has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $377.23. The stock has a market cap of $243.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $345.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $320.40.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 17th. The payment services company reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.98 by $0.16. American Express had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 14.97%.The company had revenue of $17.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. American Express has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.200-15.500 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. American Express’s payout ratio is 22.01%.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total transaction of $37,034,041.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 92,810 shares in the company, valued at $30,614,306.60. This represents a 54.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Elizabeth Rutledge sold 50,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.21, for a total transaction of $18,010,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 85,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,825,691.17. This represents a 36.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 193,292 shares of company stock worth $65,363,878 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,897,335,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,454,667,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 13.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,849,777,000 after buying an additional 2,168,445 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 31,595.9% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,742,009 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $555,666,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736,513 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 11.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,487,316 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,282,984,000 after acquiring an additional 1,349,746 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Company Profile

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.