American Express (NYSE:AXP) Given New $305.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price target upped by Morgan Stanley from $252.00 to $305.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the payment services company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on AXP. HSBC cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com raised American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $263.68.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $293.08 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 1 year low of $177.81 and a 1 year high of $307.82. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $288.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $261.29. The firm has a market cap of $206.46 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.96%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. 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.