American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target Raised to $260.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective upped by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $244.00 to $260.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the payment services company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 8.25% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Baird R W upgraded American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. HSBC increased their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Compass Point lowered their price objective on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $292.33.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP stock traded down $11.13 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $240.18. The stock had a trading volume of 1,562,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,863,095. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. American Express has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $326.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $272.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $287.84.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.33 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $998,593. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at $1,785,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in American Express by 463.3% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,357,487 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,293,259,000 after buying an additional 3,583,959 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 27,625.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $581,914,000 after acquiring an additional 2,155,045 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of American Express by 186.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $886,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,943,463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in American Express by 346.2% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,021,873 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $600,072,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,747 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

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.