Analysts Set American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) Target Price at $313.45

American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-five research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $313.45.

AXP has been the topic of several recent research reports. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on shares of American Express and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $327.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total transaction of $15,475,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,391,191.50. The trade was a 82.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction of $1,709,235.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. This represents a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,425,262 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $14,808,730,000 after buying an additional 581,369 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of American Express by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,849,777,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168,445 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,487,316 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,282,984,000 after purchasing an additional 1,349,746 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,897,335,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,454,667,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $329.43 on Tuesday. American Express has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $332.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $313.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $291.71. The company has a market capitalization of $229.24 billion, a PE ratio of 23.12, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The business’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.02%.

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.