American Express (NYSE:AXP) Given New $265.00 Price Target at Monness Crespi & Hardt

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective boosted by Monness Crespi & Hardt from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research note released on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt currently has a buy rating on the payment services company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on AXP. Oppenheimer reiterated an outperform rating on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $253.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They set a neutral rating for the company. HSBC lifted their target price 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, StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $230.70.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $240.23 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $236.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $223.27. American Express has a 1 year low of $140.91 and a 1 year high of $253.73.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The firm had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.89 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.36, for a total transaction of $729,842.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 258 shares in the company, valued at $59,948.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Skyler sold 14,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total transaction of $3,578,087.46. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,371 shares in the company, valued at $3,957,361.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.36, for a total transaction of $729,842.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 258 shares in the company, valued at $59,948.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 138,844 shares of company stock worth $32,404,735 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Sachetta LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.