American Express (NYSE:AXP) Given New $310.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its target price raised by Morgan Stanley from $305.00 to $310.00 in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the payment services company’s stock.

AXP has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI increased their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $288.32.

American Express Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $316.23 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $222.77 billion, a PE ratio of 23.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 52-week low of $199.07 and a 52-week high of $326.27. The business’s fifty day moving average is $302.35 and its 200 day moving average is $275.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued 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 0.89%. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

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.