American Express (NYSE:AXP) PT Raised to $225.00 at TD Cowen

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at TD Cowen from $221.00 to $225.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the payment services company’s stock. TD Cowen’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 3.97% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 8th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $208.24.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP traded up $3.26 during trading on Monday, reaching $234.30. 2,834,655 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,128,232. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $234.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $220.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.95. The company has a market cap of $169.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a return on equity of 32.39% and a net margin of 14.50%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.92 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388 over the last 90 days. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.9% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 653,725 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $148,847,000 after purchasing an additional 5,780 shares during the last quarter. Signature Wealth Management Group increased its position in shares of American Express by 1.0% during the first quarter. Signature Wealth Management Group now owns 8,987 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,076,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. MBL Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $232,000. Solitude Financial Services boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Solitude Financial Services now owns 3,793 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $864,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC bought a new position in American Express during the first quarter worth $230,000. 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.