American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target Raised to $252.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price target raised by Morgan Stanley from $248.00 to $252.00 in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the payment services company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $244.58.

American Express Stock Down 0.4 %

AXP stock opened at $271.22 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $195.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 12 month low of $141.02 and a 12 month high of $286.36. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $263.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $244.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 119.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,993,000 after buying an additional 21,508 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 102.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after purchasing an additional 6,329 shares during the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth $1,881,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group increased its position in shares of American Express by 2,196.4% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 7,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board raised its holdings in American Express by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 35,763 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,143,000 after buying an additional 4,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.