American Express (NYSE:AXP) Cut to “Sell” at BTIG Research

BTIG Research cut shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $230.00 target price on the payment services company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays increased their price target on American Express from $221.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $239.96.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on American Express

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $276.16 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market cap of $196.32 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $255.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $241.60. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $277.11.

American Express (NYSE:AXPGet Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.60 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The company’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.89 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 119.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,993,000 after purchasing an additional 21,508 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 102.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after acquiring an additional 6,329 shares during the period. Sciencast Management LP bought a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at about $1,881,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 2,196.4% during the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 7,885 shares during the period. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its stake in shares of American Express by 15.5% in the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 35,763 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,143,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

About American Express

(Get Free Report)

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.

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Analyst Recommendations for American Express (NYSE:AXP)

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