Morgan Stanley Increases American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target to $226.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price target raised by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $222.00 to $226.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the payment services company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential downside of 5.39% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $208.24.

American Express Stock Up 2.5 %

AXP opened at $238.88 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.73. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $239.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $221.05 and its 200 day moving average is $190.19. The stock has a market cap of $172.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.39%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,480.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388 in the last ninety days. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AXP. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.