American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by William Blair in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, July 18th. William Blair also issued estimates for American Express’ Q3 2017 earnings at $1.48 EPS, Q4 2017 earnings at $1.46 EPS, FY2017 earnings at $5.73 EPS, Q1 2018 earnings at $1.53 EPS, Q2 2018 earnings at $1.60 EPS, Q3 2018 earnings at $1.63 EPS, Q3 2018 earnings at $1.64 EPS, Q4 2018 earnings at $1.56 EPS, FY2018 earnings at $6.35 EPS and FY2019 earnings at $7.10 EPS.
AXP has been the topic of several other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “buy” rating and set a $91.00 target price on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 10th. Piper Jaffray Companies restated a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 target price (up previously from $82.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Saturday, April 22nd. Instinet restated an “underperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of American Express in a report on Thursday, June 29th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “hold” rating and set a $84.00 target price on shares of American Express in a report on Thursday, June 1st. Finally, Jefferies Group LLC reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of American Express in a report on Saturday, April 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.77.
American Express (NYSE AXP) traded up 0.51% during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $85.23. 3,079,797 shares of the company traded hands. American Express has a 12-month low of $59.50 and a 12-month high of $86.28. The company has a market cap of $75.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.48 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $83.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.62.
American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $8.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.20 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 14.11%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that American Express will post $5.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
American Express declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.40 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the payment services company to purchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
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In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Stephen J. Squeri sold 94,792 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.41, for a total value of $8,096,184.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 261,665 shares in the company, valued at $22,348,807.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 5,981 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.88, for a total value of $513,648.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 895,176 shares of company stock valued at $75,794,779. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express by 2,686.0% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 44,177,867 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,494,913,000 after buying an additional 42,592,136 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,128,667,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $616,804,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of American Express by 21.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,198,787 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,360,596,000 after buying an additional 3,071,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tesco Pension Investment Ltd acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $137,325,000. Institutional investors own 83.64% of the company’s stock.
About American Express
American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, is a global services company. The Company’s principal products and services are charge and credit card products, and travel-related services, which are offered to consumers and businesses around the world. Its segments include the U.S. Consumer Services (USCS), International Consumer and Network Services (ICNS), Global Commercial Services (GCS) and Global Merchant Services (GMS).
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