American Express (NYSE:AXP) Receives $267.05 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-three brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have issued a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $268.95.

AXP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Compass Point upped their target price on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Hsbc Global Res cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. HSBC lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

American Express Stock Up 1.6 %

AXP opened at $303.08 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 12 month low of $177.81 and a 12 month high of $307.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $293.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $266.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released 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. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 in the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,483,512 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,104,735,000 after buying an additional 86,100 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in American Express by 5.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,606,986 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,249,415,000 after acquiring an additional 239,173 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 0.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,960,842 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,074,168,000 after purchasing an additional 33,193 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 0.5% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,682,959 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $456,418,000 after purchasing an additional 7,676 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Company Profile

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.