American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by William Blair

William Blair reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in a report issued on Friday morning, RTT News reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on AXP. Robert W. Baird cut American Express from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday. DZ Bank cut American Express from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $209.52.

American Express Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:AXP traded down $1.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $235.60. The stock had a trading volume of 2,993,227 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,195,554. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $222.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $191.45. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $240.55. The company has a market capitalization of $169.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.40 earnings per share. American Express's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express's payout ratio is 23.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 210,920 shares of company stock worth $45,804,652. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

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.