American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target Raised to $250.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective increased by Barclays from $223.00 to $250.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the payment services company’s stock.

AXP has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. BTIG Research cut shares of American Express from a neutral rating to a sell rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $239.96.

American Express Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $270.46 on Tuesday. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $276.79. The company has a market capitalization of $194.54 billion, a PE ratio of 22.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $255.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $241.40.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.60 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in American Express by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,923,399,000 after purchasing an additional 662,382 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $590,940,000 after buying an additional 195,876 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $485,525,000 after buying an additional 387,166 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter worth about $433,709,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in American Express by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,798,742 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $408,494,000 after purchasing an additional 224,079 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.