Truist Financial Issues Pessimistic Forecast for American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Price

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective dropped by equities researchers at Truist Financial from $340.00 to $315.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the payment services company's stock. Truist Financial's price objective indicates a potential upside of 24.96% from the stock's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also commented on AXP. HSBC boosted their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Robert W. Baird upgraded American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. 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 research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of American Express from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $289.57.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP traded up $9.57 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $252.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 889,741 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,865,828. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $271.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $287.61. American Express has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $326.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at $998,593. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cullinan Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 53,766 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $14,466,000 after buying an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC bought a new position in American Express during the first quarter worth $217,000. Aspire Private Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 4.6% during the first quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 4,863 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,308,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. GAM Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,308,000. Finally, Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in American Express by 6.1% during the first quarter. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,748 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $470,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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