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

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 Wednesday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of American Express from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and boosted their target price for the company from $167.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $157.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays upped their price objective 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. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $191.84.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $227.69 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 company has a market capitalization of $164.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $231.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $212.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $180.97.

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

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.41%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related 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 transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at $12,248,905.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 118,198.3% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,732,068 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,028,913,000 after buying an additional 13,720,460 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $911,554,000. Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at $210,540,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 162.6% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,961,999 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $289,885,000 after buying an additional 1,214,731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,272,934 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $987,832,000 after buying an additional 1,132,318 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by 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.