American Express (NYSE:AXP) Given New $252.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

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

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. HSBC lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $244.58.

American Express Stock Down 2.2 %

American Express stock opened at $270.74 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $194.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.30, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $261.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $244.38. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $286.36.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AXP. Eastern Bank lifted its stake in American Express by 221.0% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 246,477 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $66,845,000 after purchasing an additional 169,688 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Capital LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $532,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 71.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 21,562 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $5,848,000 after acquiring an additional 9,000 shares during the period. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,603 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $706,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. raised its stake in American Express by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 3,500 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $949,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the period. 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.