American Express (NYSE:AXP) Given New $175.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective boosted by BMO Capital Markets from $167.00 to $175.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underperform rating on the payment services company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer restated an outperform rating on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com cut American Express from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. HSBC increased their target price on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an equal weight rating and issued a $221.00 target price (up from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $208.24.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $232.88 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $168.57 billion, a PE ratio of 19.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $220.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $189.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.73. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $235.37.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.39% and a net margin of 14.50%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.92 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388 in the last ninety days. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.