American Express (NYSE:AXP) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

American Express (NYSE:AXP) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $317.09 and last traded at $317.36, with a volume of 213895 shares. The stock had previously closed at $312.56.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research cut shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group upped their target price on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $278.09.

American Express Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The business has a fifty day moving average of $299.65 and a 200-day moving average of $272.78. The company has a market cap of $224.16 billion, a PE ratio of 23.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.23.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth $46,000. 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.