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

American Express (NYSE:AXP) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday.

AXP has been the topic of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group raised their price objective on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $291.50.

American Express Stock Up 0.3 %

AXP stock opened at $317.24 on Monday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $199.07 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27. The company has a market capitalization of $223.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $302.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $275.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. As a group, analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $210,000. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,040 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Wealthstar Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $309,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $832,000. Finally, Quotient Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,364 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $702,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during 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.