American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target Raised to $255.00 at Evercore ISI

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective hoisted by Evercore ISI from $243.00 to $255.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an in-line rating on the payment services company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on AXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays reiterated an equal weight rating and issued a $221.00 price target (up from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a report on Monday. Finally, HSBC raised their target price on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $209.52.

American Express Trading Up 0.1 %

AXP stock opened at $239.23 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $172.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.71, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $221.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $190.53. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $240.55.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 12.96 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,248,905.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Park Place Capital Corp increased its stake in shares of American Express by 382.6% in the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 333 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 92.7% in the third quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,880 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 3,791 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 6.1% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 44,386 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $6,622,000 after purchasing an additional 2,553 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in shares of American Express by 0.6% in the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 225,355 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $33,621,000 after purchasing an additional 1,251 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 17.1% in the third quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 2,734 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.