Analysts Set American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target at $253.09

Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the twenty-five analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $259.45.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. Evercore ISI increased their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. HSBC lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were 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 owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 over the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE AXP opened at $302.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a one year low of $175.60 and a one year high of $307.82. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $286.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $259.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.23, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

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.