JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target to $244.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $325.00 to $244.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the payment services company’s stock.

AXP has been the subject of several other research reports. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point lowered their target price on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $299.24.

American Express Stock Down 6.0 %

AXP stock opened at $246.59 on Tuesday. American Express has a 12 month low of $214.51 and a 12 month high of $326.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The company has a market cap of $173.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $280.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $288.37.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.41%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 81,343 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $22,060,000 after buying an additional 4,042 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 13.3% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 671 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 41.0% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,853 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $823,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the period. Executive Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $205,000. Finally, Conway Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $244,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.