American Express (NYSE:AXP) Reaches New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

American Express (NYSE:AXP)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $317.09 and last traded at $317.36, with a volume of 213895 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $312.56.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on AXP shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $278.09.

American Express Trading Up 1.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $227.17 billion, a PE ratio of 23.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $300.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $273.70.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 26,783.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,467,210,000 after acquiring an additional 906,353 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in American Express by 8.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after purchasing an additional 866,110 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in American Express by 59,816.0% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $185,079,000 after purchasing an additional 681,304 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in American Express by 35,213.7% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $86,002,000 after purchasing an additional 316,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of American Express by 73.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 707,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $191,842,000 after buying an additional 300,138 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

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.