American Express (NYSE:AXP) Hits New 12-Month High at $262.68

American Express (NYSE:AXP)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $262.68 and last traded at $261.17, with a volume of 193876 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $259.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Compass Point started coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $230.78.

American Express Trading Up 1.7 %

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $247.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $236.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $190.97 billion, a PE ratio of 21.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 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.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The firm had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.89 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in American Express by 8.5% in the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 662,382 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in American Express by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,855,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $909,575,000 after buying an additional 496,153 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $590,940,000 after acquiring an additional 195,876 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 22.2% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $485,525,000 after purchasing an additional 387,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in American Express in the 1st quarter worth approximately $433,709,000. 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.