American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) had its target price reduced by Barclays from $72.00 to $63.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Market Beat.com reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the payment services company’s stock.

American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) traded up 0.49% during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $55.36. The company had a trading volume of 1,712,375 shares. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $66.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.26. The firm has a market cap of $54.09 billion and a P/E ratio of 10.96. American Express Company has a 52-week low of $54.14 and a 52-week high of $86.18.

American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 21st. The payment services company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.10. The business earned $8.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.33 billion. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Express Company will post $5.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 8th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 6th.

In other news, insider Douglas E. Buckminster sold 46,345 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.85, for a total transaction of $3,376,233.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,757,299.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Other large investors recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Welch & Forbes LLC raised its stake in American Express Company by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 45,511 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,166,000 after buying an additional 2,216 shares in the last quarter. HL Financial Services LLC raised its stake in American Express Company by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. HL Financial Services LLC now owns 18,116 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,260,000 after buying an additional 751 shares in the last quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC raised its stake in American Express Company by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 53,337 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,710,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Beech Hill Advisors Inc. raised its stake in American Express Company by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Beech Hill Advisors Inc. now owns 38,733 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,694,000 after buying an additional 5,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sabal Trust CO bought a new stake in American Express Company during the fourth quarter valued at $681,000.

AXP has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Zacks Investment Research downgraded American Express Company from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, December 22nd. DA Davidson started coverage on American Express Company in a report on Wednesday, January 13th. They issued a neutral rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. S&P Equity Research reaffirmed a hold rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of American Express Company in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded American Express Company from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $67.00 in a report on Friday, January 22nd. Finally, Vetr raised American Express Company from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating and set a $78.29 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. American Express Company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $76.78.

American Express Company is a global services company. The Company’s principal products and services are charge and credit payment card products, and travel-related services offered to consumers and businesses around the world. The Company’s segments include U.S. Card Services, International Card Services, Global Commercial Services and Global Network & Merchant Services. The Company’s United States banking subsidiaries, Centurion Bank and AEBFSB, issue a range of Card products and services. It also issues its charge and credit Cards around the world either on its own or as cobrands with partnering institutions. The Company provides expense management and travel services to companies and organizations through its Global Corporate Payments and Global Business Travel businesses. The Global Network & Merchant Services (NYSE:AXP) segment operates a global payments network that processes and settles card transactions.

12 Month Chart for NYSE:AXP

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