American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

American Express (NYSE:AXP) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on AXP. UBS Group increased their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on American Express from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on American Express from $311.00 to $362.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $332.65.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $360.70 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $335.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $310.77. American Express has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $365.75. The company has a market capitalization of $248.47 billion, a PE ratio of 24.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The payment services company reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.98 by $0.16. American Express had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 14.97%.The firm had revenue of $18.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. American Express has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.200-15.500 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Douglas Tabish sold 2,515 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.61, for a total transaction of $894,359.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 2,515 shares in the company, valued at $894,359.15. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Denise Pickett sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.73, for a total value of $1,753,650.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 7,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,709,739.98. This trade represents a 39.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 222,011 shares of company stock valued at $70,725,044. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in American Express by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,425,262 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $14,808,730,000 after purchasing an additional 581,369 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in American Express by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,849,777,000 after buying an additional 2,168,445 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 11.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,487,316 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,282,984,000 after buying an additional 1,349,746 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in American Express during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,897,335,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in American Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,454,667,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

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.