Royal Bank of Canada Cuts American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target to $310.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective lowered by Royal Bank of Canada from $350.00 to $310.00 in a research report released on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the payment services company’s stock. As part of a broader Q1 preview for Consumer Finance, RBC anticipates seasonally-driven trends with lower loans and volumes, stable credit performance, and possibly elevated loan loss provisions due to uncertainty.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point reduced their price target on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $294.90.

American Express Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of American Express stock traded down $1.44 on Monday, reaching $251.48. 3,905,497 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,888,167. The company has a market capitalization of $176.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a 50-day moving average of $275.21 and a 200 day moving average of $287.85. American Express has a one year low of $216.52 and a one year high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $998,593. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Express

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth about $1,296,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.7% during the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 8,031 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,178,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in American Express by 3.1% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,423 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $657,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted 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 valued at $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in American Express by 293.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 31,428 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,523,000 after buying an additional 23,432 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.