American Express (NYSE:AXP) Upgraded by Robert W. Baird to “Neutral” Rating

Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. Robert W. Baird currently has $265.00 price objective on the payment services company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $299.24.

American Express Stock Up 3.7 %

AXP opened at $266.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $301.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $287.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 12 month low of $214.51 and a 12 month high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,593. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AXP. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 39.3% during the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,231 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 4.2% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 2,655 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 18.2% during the third quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 2,299 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $623,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 0.8% during the third quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,055 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,642,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lifeworks Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 2.8% during the third quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 3,134 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $850,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. 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.