StockNews.com Downgrades American Express (NYSE:AXP) to Hold

American Express (NYSE:AXP) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Monday.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AXP. HSBC lifted their price objective on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on American Express from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Stephens raised American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $148.00 to $193.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, DZ Bank cut American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $201.62.

American Express Price Performance

AXP opened at $218.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $219.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $187.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $158.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $231.69.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.64 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16 billion. American Express had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 30.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,522,816.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 118,198.3% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.3% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,785,059 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,458,454,000 after purchasing an additional 448,060 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,983,750 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,308,336,000 after purchasing an additional 270,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,037,387,000 after purchasing an additional 41,443 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.