American Express (NYSE:AXP) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

Several other brokerages have also commented on AXP. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Compass Point lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $277.82.

American Express Stock Up 1.4 %

AXP opened at $297.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $209.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a twelve month low of $177.81 and a twelve month high of $307.82. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $297.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $270.12. 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 issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. Sell-side 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 4,060 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,205,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $262,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,364,000. Northstar Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC now owns 10,332 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,066,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. boosted its stake in American Express by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 4,054 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.