Analysts Set American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) PT at $313.45

Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-five brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fifteen have assigned a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $313.45.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. BTIG Research set a $277.00 target price on shares of American Express and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 20,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. This trade represents a 21.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of American Express by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 680,308 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $183,037,000 after purchasing an additional 35,295 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc grew its stake in American Express by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 167,534 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $45,243,000 after acquiring an additional 2,259 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $509,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in American Express by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 94,458 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $25,088,000 after acquiring an additional 5,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Navis Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Express by 368.7% during the 1st quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $955,000 after acquiring an additional 2,791 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $325.48 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.50 billion, a PE ratio of 22.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60. American Express has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $332.46. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $313.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $291.91.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.49 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.02%.

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.