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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Thursday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Compass Point raised their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Barclays increased their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $259.45.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock opened at $300.29 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $211.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $285.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $259.21. American Express has a 1-year low of $170.15 and a 1-year high of $307.82.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that American Express will post 13.39 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. XML Financial LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 9.8% in the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group grew its holdings in American Express by 2,196.4% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after buying an additional 7,885 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 41.3% in the second quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 701 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $162,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 4.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 653,012 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $177,097,000 after acquiring an additional 28,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in American Express by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 239,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $64,820,000 after purchasing an additional 3,912 shares during 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.