Wolfe Research Begins Coverage on American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set a “peer perform” rating on the payment services company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on AXP. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Compass Point reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $324.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, October 20th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $343.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $332.65.

American Express Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of American Express stock opened at $363.76 on Monday. American Express has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $377.23. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $351.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $326.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $250.57 billion, a PE ratio of 24.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.14.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The payment services company reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by $0.16. American Express had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 14.97%.The company had revenue of $17.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.49 EPS. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. American Express has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.200-15.500 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Douglas Tabish sold 2,515 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.61, for a total transaction of $894,359.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 2,515 shares in the company, valued at $894,359.15. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Elizabeth Rutledge sold 50,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.21, for a total value of $18,010,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 85,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,825,691.17. The trade was a 36.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 57,515 shares of company stock worth $20,658,509 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 153.3% in the 3rd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 76 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.