American Express (NYSE:AXP) Upgraded to Neutral by Citigroup

Posted by Defense World Staff on Oct 26th, 2023

Citigroup upgraded shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $154.00 price objective on the payment services company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $143.00.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of American Express from $191.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Monday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of American Express from $192.00 to $167.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 17th. Stephens reaffirmed an underweight rating and set a $146.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. 51job restated a reiterates rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, June 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut shares of American Express from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, July 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $171.63.

Read Our Latest Report on American Express

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $143.52 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $105.70 billion, a PE ratio of 13.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $154.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $160.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.60. American Express has a 1 year low of $138.77 and a 1 year high of $182.15.

American Express (NYSE:AXP – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 20th. The payment services company reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.96 by $0.34. American Express had a net margin of 13.61% and a return on equity of 30.60%. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.47 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 11.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 10th. Investors of record on Friday, October 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 5th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.51%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, Director Walter Joseph Clayton III purchased 1,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $143.93 per share, for a total transaction of $143,930.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $287,860. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Express by 118,198.3% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,732,068 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,028,913,000 after buying an additional 13,720,460 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its stake in shares of American Express by 87,430.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 12,697,168 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,211,847,000 after purchasing an additional 12,682,662 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth $911,554,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of American Express by 139.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,869,384 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,133,106,000 after purchasing an additional 3,996,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter worth $397,678,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.08% of the company’s stock.

About American Express

(Get Free Report)

American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides charge and credit payment card products, and travel-related services worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Global Consumer Services Group, Global Commercial Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services. Its products and services include payment and financing products; network services; accounts payable expense management products and services; and travel and lifestyle services.