Morgan Stanley Increases American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target to $311.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its target price boosted by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $250.00 to $311.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the payment services company's stock. Morgan Stanley's target price would indicate a potential downside of 4.46% from the company's current price.

AXP has been the subject of several other research reports. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised shares of American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, BTIG Research cut their price target on shares of American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $301.42.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock traded up $8.17 on Thursday, hitting $325.52. 2,844,319 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,846,784. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.06 billion, a PE ratio of 22.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.25. American Express has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $329.14. The firm's 50 day moving average is $299.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $290.57.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by 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.