American Express (NYSE:AXP) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

American Express (NYSE:AXP) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $293.35 and last traded at $290.84, with a volume of 332248 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $275.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BTIG Research lowered shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

American Express Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $266.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $248.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $207.93 billion, a PE ratio of 20.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.41 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Vishria Bird Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $325,000. Coastline Trust Co grew its holdings in American Express by 3.3% in the third quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 27,080 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $7,344,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares during the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 0.9% during the third quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,878 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,221,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,291 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,876,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

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.