American Express (NYSE:AXP) PT Raised to $248.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its target price raised by Morgan Stanley from $226.00 to $248.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the payment services company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AXP. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $242.33.

American Express Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $285.78 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $205.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $260.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $243.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $286.36.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.60 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.89 earnings per share. Analysts expect that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AXP. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at about $433,709,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its position in American Express by 924.2% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $197,149,000 after acquiring an additional 768,301 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in American Express by 8.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,923,399,000 after acquiring an additional 662,382 shares during the period. M&G Plc bought a new position in American Express during the first quarter worth about $114,990,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in American Express by 71.9% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,098 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $269,547,000 after acquiring an additional 486,755 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.