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

StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday morning.

AXP has been the topic of several other reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an outperform rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, April 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $157.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Stephens raised shares of American Express from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and upped their price objective for the company from $148.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $201.62.

American Express Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of AXP opened at $217.62 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $219.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $187.58. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $231.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that American Express will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AXP. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in American Express by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,347 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in American Express by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,337 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its position in American Express by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 35,763 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,143,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth about $201,000. Finally, CRA Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth about $232,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently 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.