American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America raised their price objective on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. TD Cowen increased their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $263.68.

American Express Trading Up 1.9 %

AXP traded up $5.57 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $298.65. 6,205,100 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,874,237. American Express has a one year low of $177.81 and a one year high of $307.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $210.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.98, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $288.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $261.72.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business's revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. Insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 430.6% during the 3rd 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 period. XML Financial LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its position in shares of American Express by 2,196.4% in the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 7,885 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Express by 41.3% in the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 701 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in American Express by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 653,012 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $177,097,000 after acquiring an additional 28,371 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.