Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Price

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price target increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $300.00 to $340.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the payment services company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. BTIG Research lowered shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $268.95.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $303.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a 12-month low of $177.81 and a 12-month high of $307.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $293.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $266.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 in the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in American Express in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About American Express

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.