American Express (NYSE:AXP) Given New $205.00 Price Target at Robert W. Baird

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price target hoisted by Robert W. Baird from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has an underperform rating on the payment services company’s stock.

AXP has been the topic of a number of other reports. HSBC lifted their price target on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. William Blair reiterated an outperform rating on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, April 26th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $210.71.

American Express Trading Down 1.1 %

AXP opened at $231.46 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $223.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $193.49. The company has a market capitalization of $166.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $240.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.40 EPS. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.99 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value 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 approximately $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 203,891 shares of company stock valued at $44,373,196 in the last quarter. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of American Express by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,037,387,000 after purchasing an additional 41,443 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,112,747,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of American Express by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,855,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $909,575,000 after purchasing an additional 496,153 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Express by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $713,202,000 after purchasing an additional 667,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd increased its stake in shares of American Express by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 3,572,743 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $533,018,000 after purchasing an additional 67,575 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.