American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target Raised to $394.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its target price hoisted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $371.00 to $394.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the payment services company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on AXP. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, July 14th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price objective on shares of American Express and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $319.95.

American Express Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE:AXP opened at $328.76 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $319.19 and its 200-day moving average is $297.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $349.19. The firm has a market cap of $228.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.29.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. The business 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%. American Express’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.49 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total value of $37,034,041.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,614,306.60. This represents a 54.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at $6,312,049.47. This trade represents a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Norges Bank bought a new stake in American Express during the second quarter worth about $1,897,335,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth approximately $1,454,667,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 13.7% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,849,777,000 after buying an additional 2,168,445 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 31,595.9% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,742,009 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $555,666,000 after buying an additional 1,736,513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 11.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,487,316 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,282,984,000 after buying an additional 1,349,746 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.