American Express (NYSE:AXP) PT Raised to $252.00 at Morgan Stanley

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its target price upped by Morgan Stanley from $248.00 to $252.00 in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the payment services company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on AXP. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. HSBC downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America lifted their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $269.96 on Monday. American Express has a twelve month low of $141.02 and a twelve month high of $286.36. The stock has a market cap of $194.18 billion, a PE ratio of 22.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50 day moving average is $263.16 and its 200-day moving average is $244.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. On average, analysts predict that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.06%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth $433,709,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in American Express by 26,783.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,467,210,000 after purchasing an additional 906,353 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its stake in shares of American Express by 924.2% during the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $197,149,000 after purchasing an additional 768,301 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 59,816.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $185,079,000 after buying an additional 681,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,923,399,000 after buying an additional 662,382 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.