American Express (NYSE:AXP) Upgraded by Redburn Atlantic to "Neutral" Rating

American Express (NYSE:AXP) was upgraded by stock analysts at Redburn Atlantic from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $255.00 price target on the payment services company's stock, down from their previous price target of $270.00. Redburn Atlantic's price target would indicate a potential upside of 0.91% from the company's current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Baird R W raised shares of American Express from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $295.05.

American Express Trading Up 4.2 %

NYSE AXP opened at $252.69 on Wednesday. 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 has a market capitalization of $177.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.04, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The firm's 50-day moving average is $270.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $287.37. American Express has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express 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 sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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