American Express (NYSE:AXP) Upgraded by Bank of America to Buy Rating

Bank of America upgraded shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $274.00 target price on the payment services company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $325.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on AXP. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Argus lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. BTIG Research increased their price target on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point reduced their price target on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.81.

American Express Trading Up 1.9 %

AXP stock opened at $251.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $176.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. American Express has a 1-year low of $216.12 and a 1-year high of $326.28. The business’s 50 day moving average is $279.02 and its 200-day moving average is $288.26.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.41%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,785,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in American Express by 463.3% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,357,487 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,293,259,000 after acquiring an additional 3,583,959 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 27,625.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $581,914,000 after purchasing an additional 2,155,045 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in American Express by 186.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $886,426,000 after buying an additional 1,943,463 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its position in American Express by 346.2% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,021,873 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $600,072,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,747 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

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.