BTIG Research Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective increased by investment analysts at BTIG Research from $266.00 to $270.00 in a research report issued on Friday. The firm presently has a “sell” rating on the payment services company’s stock. BTIG Research’s price objective points to a potential downside of 14.66% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on AXP. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $281.00.

American Express Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of American Express stock traded down $9.51 on Friday, hitting $316.37. The stock had a trading volume of 2,650,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,514,129. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $301.67 and a 200 day moving average of $274.06. 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 has a twelve month low of $186.43 and a twelve month high of $326.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.28, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

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.