American Express (NYSE:AXP) Given New $309.00 Price Target at Compass Point

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its target price reduced by investment analysts at Compass Point from $325.00 to $309.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the payment services company’s stock. Compass Point’s target price suggests a potential downside of 2.29% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on AXP. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $288.32.

American Express Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE AXP traded down $5.11 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $316.23. The company had a trading volume of 3,075,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,788,975. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $302.35 and a 200 day moving average of $275.17. American Express has a 1-year low of $199.07 and a 1-year high of $326.27. 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 $222.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in American Express by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 79,451 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $23,579,000 after purchasing an additional 11,090 shares during the last quarter. Adero Partners LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 76.3% in the fourth quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 8,717 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,587,000 after purchasing an additional 3,773 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC grew its stake in American Express by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 23,305 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $6,926,000 after acquiring an additional 5,270 shares during the period. Money Concepts Capital Corp grew its stake in American Express by 103.6% in the fourth quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 2,466 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $732,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of American Express by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 88,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $26,589,000 after buying an additional 9,268 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.