Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft Boosts American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target to $260.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price target increased by Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $240.00 to $260.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the payment services company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on AXP. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of American Express from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of American Express from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $245.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $229.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $208.24.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock opened at $232.88 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $220.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.56. The company has a market capitalization of $168.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 1 year low of $140.91 and a 1 year high of $235.37. 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 (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.39%. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 12.92 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.06%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at $12,248,905.76. 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. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.