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

StockNews.com lowered shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on AXP. Barclays restated an equal weight rating and set a $221.00 target price (up from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of American Express from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. DZ Bank lowered shares of American Express from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on American Express from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised American Express from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $245.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $201.62.

American Express Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE AXP opened at $217.51 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $219.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $187.79. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $231.69. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $157.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.40, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued 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). The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.98%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 62.5% in the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. 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.