Monness Crespi & Hardt Raises American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target to $355.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its target price boosted by stock analysts at Monness Crespi & Hardt from $330.00 to $355.00 in a report issued on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the payment services company’s stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt’s price objective points to a potential upside of 10.64% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on AXP. HSBC boosted their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen increased their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $282.36.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $320.87 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $226.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $186.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $302.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $275.17.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted 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 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. On average, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently 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.