American Express (NYSE:AXP) PT Raised to $243.00 at Evercore ISI

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price target lifted by research analysts at Evercore ISI from $229.00 to $243.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “in-line” rating on the payment services company’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 7.05% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $167.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $235.00 price target for the company. Barclays increased their price target on shares of American Express from $216.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of American Express from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $212.00 to $222.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $191.84.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP stock traded down $0.76 on Thursday, reaching $226.99. 497,118 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,129,542. The company has a market cap of $164.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $210.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 1 year low of $140.91 and a 1 year high of $231.69.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by ($0.02). American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at $12,248,905.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,490 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in American Express by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,188 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $410,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC now owns 2,214 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 5,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $982,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,584 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently 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.