American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target Raised to $370.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its target price upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $355.00 to $370.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the payment services company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Compass Point dropped their price objective on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, HSBC lifted their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock opened at $317.12 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $304.98 and a 200-day moving average of $277.54. The firm has a market cap of $223.40 billion, a PE ratio of 22.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12-month low of $199.88 and a 12-month high of $326.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 15.3 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 19.99%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.