American Express (NYSE:AXP) Sets New 12-Month High at $272.41

American Express (NYSE:AXP)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $272.41 and last traded at $270.77, with a volume of 137727 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $268.99.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Compass Point initiated coverage on American Express in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.78.

American Express Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $193.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $249.10 and its 200 day moving average is $237.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.23. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The firm had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.89 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in American Express by 8.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,923,399,000 after acquiring an additional 662,382 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its stake in American Express by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,855,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $909,575,000 after purchasing an additional 496,153 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $590,940,000 after purchasing an additional 195,876 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 22.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $485,525,000 after buying an additional 387,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in American Express during the first quarter worth about $433,709,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Company Profile

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.