American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target Raised to $310.00 at Morgan Stanley

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective raised by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $305.00 to $310.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the payment services company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential downside of 3.39% from the stock’s previous close.

AXP has been the topic of several other research reports. Evercore ISI raised 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. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, HSBC upped their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $282.36.

American Express Stock Down 1.5 %

AXP stock opened at $320.87 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $302.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $275.17. The company has a market cap of $226.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12-month low of $186.43 and a 12-month high of $326.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.