American Express (NYSE:AXP) Upgraded at StockNews.com

American Express (NYSE:AXP) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

AXP has been the topic of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Compass Point increased their target price on American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $272.64.

American Express Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $294.09 on Friday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $177.81 and a fifty-two week high of $307.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $296.88 and a 200 day moving average of $269.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently 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.