American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target Increased to $260.00 by Analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective increased by Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $240.00 to $260.00 in a report issued on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the payment services company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday. DZ Bank cut shares of American Express from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an equal weight rating and set a $221.00 price target (up from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $208.24.

American Express Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $232.88 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $168.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.18, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $235.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $220.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $189.56.

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 firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.39%. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. Analysts predict that American Express will post 12.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 0.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,480.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,480.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AXP. Wealth Effects LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Herbst Group LLC lifted its position in American Express by 2.0% during the first quarter. Herbst Group LLC now owns 12,956 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,950,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in American Express by 9.1% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 194,016 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $44,176,000 after acquiring an additional 16,242 shares during the last quarter. Sutton Place Investors LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $458,000. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its position in American Express by 1.8% during the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,753 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. 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.