Analysts Set American Express (NYSE:AXP) PT at $267.05

American Express (NYSE:AXP) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-three brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $268.95.

Several analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. HSBC lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 10.2% during the second quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,297 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 15.7% in the second quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 6,129 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,419,000 after buying an additional 832 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association increased its position in shares of American Express by 159.0% in the second quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 93,479 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $21,645,000 after acquiring an additional 57,392 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,845,000. Finally, Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $222,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $303.08 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $293.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.64. American Express has a 52-week low of $177.81 and a 52-week high of $307.82. The company has a market capitalization of $213.50 billion, a PE ratio of 22.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. Analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

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.