American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target Raised to $305.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its target price upped by Morgan Stanley from $252.00 to $305.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the payment services company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $263.68.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $298.65 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $210.38 billion, a PE ratio of 21.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $288.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $261.89. American Express has a 52-week low of $177.81 and a 52-week high of $307.82.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Auxier Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 0.5% in the third quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,934,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Abel Hall LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express by 2.7% during the third quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC raised its stake in American Express by 2.5% during the third quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in American Express by 10.5% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 422 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by 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.