American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) was upgraded by Oppenheimer from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note issued on Monday, The Fly reports. The analysts noted that the move was a valuation call.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on AXP. Credit Suisse lowered their price objective on shares of American Express Company from $76.00 to $74.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Goldman Sachs lowered shares of American Express Company from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 13th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of American Express Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of American Express Company from $87.00 to $77.50 in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of American Express Company in a research note on Friday, January 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.78.

In other news, insider Douglas E. Buckminster sold 46,345 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 11th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $2,757,299.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Kovitz Investment Group boosted its stake in American Express Company by 3.0% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group now owns 426,337 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $31,604,000 after buying an additional 12,219 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management purchased a new stake in American Express Company during the third quarter valued at $218,000. Creative Planning boosted its stake in American Express Company by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Creative Planning now owns 60,993 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,242,000 after buying an additional 2,744 shares during the period. Gerstein Fisher boosted its stake in American Express Company by 2.6% in the third quarter. Gerstein Fisher now owns 8,000 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $593,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Founders Capital Management boosted its stake in American Express Company by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 34,217 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,380,000 after buying an additional 8,935 shares during the period.

Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) opened at 55.09 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $53.82 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $66.07 and its 200-day moving average is $73.26. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $54.14 and a 12-month 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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $8.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.33 billion. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. Analysts predict that American Express Company will post $5.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed 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.

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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