Barclays Increases American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target to $257.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price target hoisted by equities researchers at Barclays from $250.00 to $257.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the payment services company’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective points to a potential downside of 6.55% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on AXP. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America raised their target price on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on American Express from $226.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $244.42.

American Express Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $275.00 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $197.81 billion, a PE ratio of 22.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The business’s fifty day moving average is $261.27 and its 200 day moving average is $244.02. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $286.36.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of American Express

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 119.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,993,000 after purchasing an additional 21,508 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 102.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after acquiring an additional 6,329 shares during the period. Sciencast Management LP acquired a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter worth $1,881,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 2,196.4% during the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after buying an additional 7,885 shares during the period. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its stake in shares of American Express by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 35,763 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,143,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is 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.