American Express (NYSE:AXP) Lowered to Sell Rating by DZ Bank

American Express (NYSE:AXP) was downgraded by DZ Bank from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports.

AXP has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an "outperform" 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 company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered shares of American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $277.00 price objective on shares of American Express and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $307.68.

American Express Trading Down 2.2%

American Express stock opened at $308.38 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $304.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $291.04. American Express has a 52 week low of $220.43 and a 52 week high of $329.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 1.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,785,867,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth approximately $1,454,667,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in shares of American Express by 463.3% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,357,487 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,293,259,000 after purchasing an additional 3,583,959 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of American Express by 13.7% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $4,849,777,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 27,625.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $581,914,000 after purchasing an additional 2,155,045 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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