American Express (NYSE:AXP) Given New $225.00 Price Target at TD Cowen

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective hoisted by TD Cowen from $221.00 to $225.00 in a research note released on Monday, Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the payment services company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Express from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an equal weight rating and set a $221.00 price objective (up from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $208.24.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $232.88 on Monday. American Express has a 1 year low of $140.91 and a 1 year high of $235.37. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $220.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $189.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.57 billion, a PE ratio of 19.18, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.39%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.40 EPS. American Express’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.92 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AXP. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

About American Express

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.