American Express (NYSE:AXP) PT Raised to $235.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price target boosted by Jefferies Financial Group from $225.00 to $235.00 in a research report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the payment services company’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Oppenheimer reiterated an outperform rating on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $253.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $225.50.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $238.71 on Tuesday. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $244.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $234.97 and a 200-day moving average of $219.65.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 12.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total transaction of $27,267,303.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 110,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,642,315.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 177,717 shares of company stock valued at $41,680,999 in the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its position in shares of American Express by 35.4% during the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 5,350 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $798,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its position in shares of American Express by 222.5% during the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 163,709 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $24,424,000 after acquiring an additional 112,952 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 19,905 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,690 shares during the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $485,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,600,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Express Company Profile

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.