Evercore ISI Boosts American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target to $255.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective increased by Evercore ISI from $243.00 to $255.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the payment services company’s stock.

AXP has been the topic of several other reports. DZ Bank downgraded American Express from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Robert W. Baird downgraded American Express from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com raised American Express from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday. HSBC lifted their price target on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $209.52.

American Express Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $235.60 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $222.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $191.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.62. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $240.55. The company has a market capitalization of $169.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.06%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 210,920 shares of company stock valued at $45,804,652 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. 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.