Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price target hoisted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $360.00 to $371.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the payment services company's stock.

AXP has been the subject of a number of other reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on American Express from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $301.42.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded down $3.92 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $321.32. The company had a trading volume of 587,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,838,057. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $299.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $290.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. American Express has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $329.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $225.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.25.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 value of $799,008.54. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

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.