JPMorgan Chase & Co. Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its target price upped by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $286.00 to $301.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the payment services company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 0.67% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AXP. BTIG Research cut shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. HSBC downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America increased their target price on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $256.95.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP traded down $4.98 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $299.01. 968,313 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,863,097. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $283.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $257.74. American Express has a 1 year low of $167.77 and a 1 year high of $307.82. The company has a market cap of $210.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. On average, analysts predict that American Express will post 13.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,699,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in American Express by 6.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 575,969 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $159,267,000 after acquiring an additional 35,211 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its holdings in American Express by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 63,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $17,161,000 after acquiring an additional 5,476 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in American Express by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 23,491 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $6,370,000 after purchasing an additional 856 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 58.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 44,390 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $12,039,000 after purchasing an additional 16,321 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

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.