American Express (NYSE:AXP) Given New $300.00 Price Target at Monness Crespi & Hardt

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its target price lifted by Monness Crespi & Hardt from $265.00 to $300.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt currently has a buy rating on the payment services company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on AXP. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on American Express from $223.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Compass Point initiated coverage on American Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $242.33.

American Express Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $285.78 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $205.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $286.36. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $260.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $243.43.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.60 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.89 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Institutional Trading of American Express

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AXP. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 62.5% in the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. boosted its stake in American Express by 42.2% in the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Express Company Profile

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.