American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target Lowered to $330.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its target price decreased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $367.00 to $330.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the payment services company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on AXP. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird raised American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $303.52.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $262.71 on Tuesday. American Express has a 1-year low of $214.51 and a 1-year high of $326.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $300.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $288.47. The company has a market capitalization of $184.56 billion, a PE ratio of 18.75, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.41%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was 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 Trading of American Express

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 332.0% during 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 period. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 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.