American Express (NYSE:AXP) PT Raised to $225.00 at TD Cowen

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective boosted by research analysts at TD Cowen from $221.00 to $225.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the payment services company’s stock. TD Cowen’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 5.81% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, April 5th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. HSBC boosted their price objective on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on American Express from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $208.24.

American Express Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of AXP opened at $238.88 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $172.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.68, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $239.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $221.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $190.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

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

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. 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 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Venture Visionary Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 23,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,349,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 417.3% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 415,696 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $77,876,000 after acquiring an additional 335,338 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $2,460,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,806 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,837,000 after acquiring an additional 2,572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 1,313.2% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 768,769 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,440,210,000 after acquiring an additional 714,370 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.