American Express (NYSE:AXP) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

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

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI lifted 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. Bank of America boosted their target price on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

View Our Latest Research Report on American Express

American Express Price Performance

AXP opened at $304.25 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.39, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $279.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $254.96. American Express has a 12-month low of $163.61 and a 12-month high of $307.82.

American Express (NYSE:AXPGet Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 42.2% in the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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