StockNews.com Downgrades American Express (NYSE:AXP) to Hold

American Express (NYSE:AXP) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on AXP. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $288.32.

American Express Stock Down 1.6 %

AXP traded down $5.11 during trading on Monday, reaching $316.23. The company had a trading volume of 3,097,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,790,469. The company has a market cap of $222.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.27, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12 month low of $199.07 and a 12 month high of $326.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $302.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $275.17.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AXP. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in American Express by 26,783.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,467,210,000 after buying an additional 906,353 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 59,816.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $185,079,000 after purchasing an additional 681,304 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 35,213.7% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $86,002,000 after purchasing an additional 316,219 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in American Express by 73.7% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 707,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $191,842,000 after purchasing an additional 300,138 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.