American Express (NYSE:AXP) Given New $340.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective upped by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $300.00 to $340.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the payment services company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 13.93% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on AXP. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $268.95.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $298.43 on Friday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $177.81 and a fifty-two week high of $307.82. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $293.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market cap of $210.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.96, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the third quarter worth $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at about $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.