American Express (NYSE:AXP) Lowered to Sell at Redburn Partners

Redburn Partners downgraded shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Redburn Partners currently has $125.00 target price on the payment services company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on AXP. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an outperform rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of American Express from $152.00 to $150.00 and set a sell rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 21st. Credit Suisse Group upped their target price on shares of American Express from $132.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research note on Monday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of American Express from $182.00 to $180.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $174.50.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $151.08 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $157.75 and a 200-day moving average of $159.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. American Express has a twelve month low of $130.65 and a twelve month high of $182.15.

American Express (NYSE:AXP – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 20th. The payment services company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.66 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $14.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. American Express had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 29.44%. The business’s revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.73 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

American Express declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 8th that allows the company to buyback 120,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the payment services company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 7th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 6th. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 25.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Monique Herena sold 15,217 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.18, for a total transaction of $2,635,280.06. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,712 shares in the company, valued at $2,374,644.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 5,456 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.52, for a total transaction of $952,181.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,229,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 15,217 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.18, for a total value of $2,635,280.06. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,374,644.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in American Express by 0.9% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 45,899,776 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $7,571,168,000 after buying an additional 423,300 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of American Express by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 22,000,787 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,629,030,000 after purchasing an additional 182,753 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 118,198.3% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,732,068 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,028,913,000 after purchasing an additional 13,720,460 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of American Express by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,503,902 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,847,452,000 after purchasing an additional 35,760 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,602,539 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,744,148,000 after acquiring an additional 144,135 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.30% of the company’s stock.

American Express Company Profile

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American Express Co engages in the provision of charge and credit card products and travel-related services. It operates through the following segments: U.S Consumer Services (USCS), Commercial Services (CS), International Card Services (ICS), Global Merchant and Network Services (GMNS), and Corporate and Other.