American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Brokerages have set an average target price of $311.05 for American Express (NYSE:AXP), with a consensus rating of "Hold" from twenty-five research firms.
• Insiders have sold a total of 134,219 shares of American Express stock valued at approximately $40.56 million over the last three months, indicating a significant decrease in their positions.
• American Express recently reported quarterly earnings of $4.08 per share, surpassing analyst expectations, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share.

American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) has been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the twenty-five brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fifteen have issued a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $311.05.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on shares of American Express and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $18,360,145.87. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,677,527.47. The trade was a 87.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 134,219 shares of company stock worth $40,555,901. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new stake in American Express during the first quarter valued at about $34,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Trading Down 0.3%

AXP traded down $0.78 during trading on Friday, reaching $306.27. 334,782 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,922,481. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $329.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $307.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $289.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.13 billion, a PE ratio of 21.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%. American Express's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.02%.

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.