Analysts Set American Express (NYSE:AXP) Target Price at $281.00

Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-four ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $296.38.

AXP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial initiated coverage on American Express in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price target on the stock. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $317.12 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $304.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $277.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.67. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $199.88 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.3 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. American Express’s payout ratio is 19.99%.

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.