American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target Raised to $371.00

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

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AXP. Bank of America upgraded American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial upped their price target on American Express from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird upgraded 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. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $327.00 price target (up previously from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $301.42.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP traded up $8.17 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $325.52. 2,843,534 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,844,215. 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 capitalization of $228.06 billion, a PE ratio of 22.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.25. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $298.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $290.38. American Express has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $329.14.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express 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 value of $2,603,475.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 stock was 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 $2,889,822.54. The trade was 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.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the second quarter worth $2,630,000. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 11.5% during the second quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,758 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 32.9% during the second quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 2,438 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $774,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the second quarter worth $208,000. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 5.6% during the second quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 11,382 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $3,631,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares during the last quarter. 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.