American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by William Blair

American Express (NYSE:AXP)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at William Blair in a research report issued on Friday, RTT News reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $209.52.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded down $0.98 on Friday, reaching $236.12. 1,517,526 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,176,836. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $240.55. The company has a fifty day moving average of $222.11 and a 200-day moving average of $190.85. The company has a market capitalization of $169.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.45, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value 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 approximately $2,522,816.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at $18,209,855.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 210,920 shares of company stock worth $45,804,652. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 62.5% during the first quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 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.