American Express (NYSE:AXP) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

American Express (NYSE:AXP) has been given an average recommendation of "Hold" by the twenty-five analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $296.81.

Several brokerages recently commented on AXP. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. HSBC increased their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st.

Insider Activity at American Express

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

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Institutional Trading of American Express

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in American Express by 16.7% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,266 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $614,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at $1,296,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. increased its holdings in American Express by 2.7% during the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 8,031 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $2,178,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in American Express by 3.1% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,423 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $657,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 430.6% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,292,000 after acquiring an additional 3,867 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP traded down $5.20 on Friday, reaching $252.66. 2,216,476 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,881,403. American Express has a 12 month low of $216.51 and a 12 month high of $326.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $276.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $288.09. The firm has a market cap of $177.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

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

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.