American Express (NYSE:AXP) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

American Express (NYSE:AXP) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

Several other brokerages have also commented on AXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Stephens upgraded shares of American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $148.00 to $193.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $221.00 price target (up from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $201.62.

American Express Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of AXP traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $218.40. The stock had a trading volume of 3,383,294 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,059,448. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The business’s fifty day moving average is $219.13 and its 200 day moving average is $186.88. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $231.69. The firm has a market cap of $158.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by ($0.02). American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.07 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 12.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,522,816.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in American Express by 118,198.3% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,732,068 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,028,913,000 after acquiring an additional 13,720,460 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in American Express by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,503,902 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,847,452,000 after buying an additional 35,760 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in American Express by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,785,059 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,458,454,000 after buying an additional 448,060 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,983,750 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,308,336,000 after acquiring an additional 270,173 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,037,387,000 after acquiring an additional 41,443 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is 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.