American Express’ (AXP) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $310.00 price target on the payment services company’s stock.

AXP has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Baird R W upgraded American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $290.90.

American Express Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $242.68 on Monday. 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 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $326.28. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $271.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $287.61. The firm has a market cap of $170.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.32, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th 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 1.35%. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 22.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,296,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 8,031 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,178,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,423 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $657,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 430.6% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in shares of American Express by 293.0% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 31,428 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,523,000 after buying an additional 23,432 shares during the last quarter. 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.