American Express (NYSE:AXP) Receives $253.09 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-five brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $259.45.

Several analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. TD Cowen raised their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. HSBC cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $302.16 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $284.00 and its 200-day moving average is $258.17. 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 company has a market capitalization of $212.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $167.77 and a fifty-two week high of $307.82.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in American Express in the third quarter worth $38,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the second quarter worth $42,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by 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.