American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target Raised to $205.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective hoisted by Robert W. Baird from $190.00 to $205.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has an underperform rating on the payment services company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on AXP. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. HSBC upped their price objective on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Stephens upgraded shares of American Express from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $148.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $210.71.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $230.77 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $224.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.20. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $240.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,891,480.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other American Express news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was 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 approximately $2,891,480.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 203,891 shares of company stock worth $44,373,196 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the third quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. 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.