Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $355.00 to $370.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the payment services company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 15.94% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Hsbc Global Res cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. HSBC increased their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

American Express Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded up $0.18 on Friday, reaching $319.13. The company had a trading volume of 229,661 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,595,497. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $224.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $304.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $276.84. American Express has a twelve month low of $199.88 and a twelve month high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. On average, equities analysts expect that American Express will post 15.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in American Express by 430.6% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after acquiring an additional 3,867 shares in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI increased its position in American Express by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $25,626,000 after buying an additional 2,557 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in American Express by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $655,137,000 after buying an additional 247,864 shares during the period. Finally, Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $298,000. 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.