American Express (NYSE:AXP) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

American Express (NYSE:AXP) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have assigned a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $253.09.

AXP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock 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 report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, HSBC cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $285.54 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $273.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $252.10. The company has a market cap of $201.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a twelve month low of $161.73 and a twelve month high of $296.83.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that American Express will post 13.47 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Auxier Asset Management increased its holdings in American Express by 0.5% in the third quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in American Express by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC boosted its position in American Express by 2.5% during the third quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners grew its holdings in American Express by 10.5% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 422 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. 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.