Wells Fargo & Company Boosts American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target to $370.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price target upped by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $355.00 to $370.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the payment services company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 15.94% from the stock’s current price.

AXP has been the topic of a number of other reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $319.13. The stock had a trading volume of 229,661 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,595,497. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a market cap of $224.81 billion, a PE ratio of 22.78, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $199.88 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $304.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $276.84.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. On average, equities analysts expect that American Express will post 15.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Express

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in American Express by 26,783.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,467,210,000 after buying an additional 906,353 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 59,816.0% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $185,079,000 after acquiring an additional 681,304 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 35,213.7% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $86,002,000 after acquiring an additional 316,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in American Express by 73.7% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 707,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $191,842,000 after purchasing an additional 300,138 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.