Monness Crespi & Hardt Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective raised by analysts at Monness Crespi & Hardt from $300.00 to $330.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the payment services company’s stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 10.50% from the stock’s current price.

AXP has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Compass Point increased their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $263.68.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $298.65 on Thursday. American Express has a 52-week low of $177.81 and a 52-week high of $307.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market cap of $210.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $288.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $261.72.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Company Profile

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.