American Express (NYSE:AXP) Reaches New 52-Week High at $262.68

American Express (NYSE:AXP)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $262.68 and last traded at $261.17, with a volume of 193876 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $259.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AXP. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock. BTIG Research assumed coverage on American Express in a report on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $230.70.

American Express Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The company’s 50 day moving average is $246.33 and its 200-day moving average is $235.60. The company has a market capitalization of $186.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.60 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in American Express by 8.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,923,399,000 after buying an additional 662,382 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at $1,112,747,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its position in American Express by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,855,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $909,575,000 after buying an additional 496,153 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of American Express by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $590,940,000 after acquiring an additional 195,876 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of American Express by 22.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $485,525,000 after purchasing an additional 387,166 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.