American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target Raised to $263.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective upped by Royal Bank of Canada from $253.00 to $263.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the payment services company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on AXP. HSBC lifted their price objective on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $210.71.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $230.77 on Wednesday. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $240.55. The firm has a market cap of $165.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50-day moving average is $224.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.40 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.06%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 203,891 shares of company stock worth $44,373,196. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in American Express by 4.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,221 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $506,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 4,557.7% in the 1st quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 13,973 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,182,000 after purchasing an additional 13,673 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 8,941 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,036,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 4.1% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 13,156 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,996,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 115.5% during the first quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 2,416 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $550,000 after buying an additional 1,295 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently 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.