American Express (NYSE:AXP) PT Raised to $175.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective upped by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $167.00 to $175.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underperform” rating on the payment services company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective points to a potential downside of 26.74% from the company’s previous close.

AXP has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $221.00 price objective (up from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $235.00 price objective for the company. Four 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $208.24.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $238.88 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $172.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $239.42. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $221.05 and its 200-day moving average is $190.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.39%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388 over the last quarter. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 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.