American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target Raised to $205.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its target price raised by Robert W. Baird from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has an underperform rating on the payment services company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on AXP. HSBC raised their price objective on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Stephens raised shares of American Express from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and raised their price target for the company from $148.00 to $193.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $210.71.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock opened at $230.64 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $240.55. The company has a market cap of $165.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $224.31 and its 200-day moving average is $193.76.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.40 earnings per share. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.99 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,480.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 203,891 shares of company stock valued at $44,373,196. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.0% during the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 4,315 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $983,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. HTLF Bank increased its stake in American Express by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. HTLF Bank now owns 6,202 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,412,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. CIC Wealth LLC increased its stake in American Express by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. CIC Wealth LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Aspiriant LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 6,330 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,441,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,490 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.