American Express (NYSE:AXP) Receives $296.05 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) have received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty-four analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $296.05.

Several brokerages have issued reports on AXP. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $998,593. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,843,893 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $12,334,299,000 after buying an additional 605,900 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 13.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $4,849,777,000 after buying an additional 2,168,445 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,752,084 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $3,484,312,000 after buying an additional 268,572 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,761,336 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $2,600,277,000 after buying an additional 95,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,825,135 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $2,025,632,000 after buying an additional 955,811 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

American Express Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE AXP traded up $1.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $295.37. 1,732,819 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,092,565. American Express has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $326.27. The firm has a market cap of $206.93 billion, a PE ratio of 21.08, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $270.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $288.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Company Profile

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.