Wells Fargo & Company Boosts American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target to $285.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its target price boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $275.00 to $285.00 in a research report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the payment services company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $225.50.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $238.71 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $171.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $244.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $234.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $219.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The company 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 32.46%. 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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 12.98 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.06%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total value of $27,267,303.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 110,318 shares in the company, valued at $25,642,315.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 177,717 shares of company stock valued at $41,680,999. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,923,399,000 after purchasing an additional 662,382 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,112,747,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of American Express by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,855,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $909,575,000 after purchasing an additional 496,153 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Express by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $713,202,000 after purchasing an additional 667,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of American Express by 8.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $590,940,000 after purchasing an additional 195,876 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by 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.