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

StockNews.com cut shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on AXP. Oppenheimer upped their price target on American Express from $208.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of American Express from $216.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of American Express from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Robert W. Baird lowered American Express from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered American Express from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $212.00 to $222.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $189.00.

American Express Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $227.79 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $210.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $180.31. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $231.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.64 by ($0.02). American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AXP. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,470,000. Fairman Group LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth $96,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $15,097,000. Ariston Services Group acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $398,000. Finally, Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $468,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.