American Express (NYSE:AXP) Given New $226.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price target lifted by Morgan Stanley from $222.00 to $226.00 in a research report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the payment services company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a buy rating and a $235.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of American Express from $229.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Stephens upgraded shares of American Express from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and increased their price target for the stock from $148.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. HSBC increased their price target on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $209.52.

American Express Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE AXP opened at $239.23 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $221.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $190.53. The company has a market capitalization of $172.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $240.55.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 12.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,891,480.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,480.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,248,905.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in American Express by 0.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,037,387,000 after purchasing an additional 41,443 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,112,747,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its stake in American Express by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,855,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $909,575,000 after buying an additional 496,153 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in American Express by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $713,202,000 after buying an additional 667,695 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd grew its stake in American Express by 1.9% during the third quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 3,572,743 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $533,018,000 after buying an additional 67,575 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.