Citigroup Lowers American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target to $300.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its target price lowered by equities researchers at Citigroup from $320.00 to $300.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the payment services company’s stock. Citigroup’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 8.45% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on AXP. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of American Express from $326.00 to $325.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.57.

American Express Stock Up 2.3 %

American Express stock traded up $6.12 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $276.63. 496,733 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,618,147. The company has a market cap of $194.34 billion, a PE ratio of 19.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $214.51 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $298.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $288.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. On average, research analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 382,701 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $113,582,000 after buying an additional 73,442 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of American Express by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,605 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Old North State Trust LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $280,000. IronOak Wealth LLC. acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $2,483,000. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $75,000. 84.33% of the stock is 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.