American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty-five ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, sixteen have given a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $334.30.

AXP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. BTIG Research increased their price target 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut American Express from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Elizabeth Rutledge sold 50,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.21, for a total value of $18,010,500.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 85,577 shares in the company, valued at $30,825,691.17. The trade was a 36.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Denise Pickett sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.73, for a total transaction of $1,753,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,709,739.98. This trade represents a 39.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 57,515 shares of company stock valued at $20,658,509. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Garde Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in American Express by 3.4% in the third quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 5,157 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,713,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of American Express by 159.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 31,611 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $10,500,000 after acquiring an additional 19,429 shares in the last quarter. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. raised its position in shares of American Express by 195.9% in the 3rd quarter. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. now owns 2,900 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $963,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920 shares in the last quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $186,000. Finally, Investment Research Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,573,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 1.4%

AXP opened at $375.43 on Thursday. American Express has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $387.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $357.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $330.13. The company has a market cap of $258.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.14.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The payment services company reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.98 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $17.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.03 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 14.97%.American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.49 EPS. American Express has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.200-15.500 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.01%.

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.