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

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price target hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $222.00 to $226.00 in a research report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the payment services company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Barclays restated an equal weight rating and set a $221.00 target price (up from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. DZ Bank lowered shares of American Express from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $157.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Stephens upgraded shares of American Express from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $148.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $208.24.

American Express Stock Up 0.8 %

AXP stock opened at $232.88 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market cap of $168.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.18, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50 day moving average is $220.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.56. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $235.37.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.39%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.40 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that American Express will post 12.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.06%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was 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 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 available at this link. In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction 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 approximately $2,522,816.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. 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 90 days. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in American Express by 62.5% in the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $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.