HSBC Increases American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target to $294.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its target price boosted by analysts at HSBC from $270.00 to $294.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the payment services company’s stock. HSBC’s target price suggests a potential downside of 8.37% from the company’s previous close.

AXP has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $281.00.

American Express Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $320.87 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $302.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $274.66. The company has a market capitalization of $226.04 billion, a PE ratio of 23.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12-month low of $186.43 and a 12-month high of $326.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

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.