American Express (NYSE:AXP) PT Raised to $239.00 at HSBC

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective hoisted by analysts at HSBC from $232.00 to $239.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the payment services company’s stock. HSBC’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 9.53% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Stephens upgraded shares of American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $148.00 to $193.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on American Express from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $201.62.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $218.20 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $231.69. The stock has a market cap of $157.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $218.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $185.90.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.64 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 12.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388 in the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Express

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in American Express by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,490 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,188 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 62.5% during the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. West Coast Financial LLC increased its position in American Express by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. West Coast Financial LLC now owns 3,925 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $894,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC now owns 2,214 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $415,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.