American Express (NYSE:AXP) Reaches New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

American Express (NYSE:AXP) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $301.00 to $307.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. American Express traded as high as $310.91 and last traded at $310.91, with a volume of 526799 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $300.36.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on AXP. BTIG Research downgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. HSBC downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $278.09.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in American Express by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,226 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,254,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. BNC Wealth Management LLC raised its position in American Express by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. BNC Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,904 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,423,000 after buying an additional 725 shares during the last quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC raised its position in American Express by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $415,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in American Express by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $590,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Veery Capital LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $205,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $220.15 billion, a PE ratio of 23.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50-day moving average of $297.91 and a 200 day moving average of $270.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

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.