Citigroup Lowers American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target to $300.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective reduced by equities researchers at Citigroup from $320.00 to $300.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the payment services company’s stock. Citigroup’s target price points to a potential upside of 7.44% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on AXP. UBS Group increased their price objective on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of American Express from $326.00 to $325.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Baird R W upgraded shares of American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.57.

American Express Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $279.23 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $297.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $289.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a 1 year low of $214.51 and a 1 year high of $326.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.93, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. On average, equities analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $998,593. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 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.