Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Positive Forecast for American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Price

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its target price increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $371.00 to $394.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the payment services company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on AXP. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $319.95.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $330.10 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. American Express has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $349.19. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $320.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $298.24. The firm has a market cap of $229.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.17, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.29.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.02%.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $18,360,145.87. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at $2,677,527.47. This trade represents a 87.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in American Express by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 680,308 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $183,037,000 after buying an additional 35,295 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 167,534 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $45,243,000 after purchasing an additional 2,259 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth $509,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 94,458 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $25,088,000 after purchasing an additional 5,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Navis Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 368.7% during the 1st quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $955,000 after purchasing an additional 2,791 shares in the last quarter. 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.