Monness Crespi & Hardt Boosts American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target to $300.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective increased by Monness Crespi & Hardt from $265.00 to $300.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the payment services company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Hsbc Global Res cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. HSBC lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on American Express from $223.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $242.33.

American Express Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of AXP opened at $281.67 on Monday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $281.87. The firm has a market cap of $202.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $259.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $243.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 62.5% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. lifted its position 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 acquiring 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.