Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Positive Forecast for American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Price

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its target price hoisted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $360.00 to $371.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the payment services company's stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on AXP. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 price target on American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Baird R W upgraded American Express from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $305.74.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP traded down $5.75 on Wednesday, hitting $319.49. The company had a trading volume of 2,090,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,847,673. The company's fifty day moving average price is $300.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $290.68. American Express has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $329.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market cap of $223.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.25.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were 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 $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of American Express

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Westfuller Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the second quarter worth $430,000. Congress Park Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the second quarter worth $207,000. First PREMIER Bank grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 130.3% during the second quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 1,073 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Grant Private Wealth Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the second quarter worth $1,653,000. Finally, Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.8% during the second quarter. Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. now owns 11,316 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $3,609,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently 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.