Compass Point Issues Positive Forecast for American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Price

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its target price raised by research analysts at Compass Point from $315.00 to $325.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the payment services company's stock. Compass Point's price objective suggests a potential upside of 10.89% from the company's current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. BTIG Research cut American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. HSBC cut shares of American Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their target price for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $263.68.

American Express Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of AXP traded up $5.30 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $293.08. 3,540,113 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,860,637. The stock's 50-day moving average is $288.48 and its 200-day moving average is $261.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $177.81 and a fifty-two week high of $307.82. The company has a market cap of $206.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,483,512 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $3,104,735,000 after buying an additional 86,100 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in American Express by 8.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in American Express by 5.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,606,986 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,249,415,000 after acquiring an additional 239,173 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 0.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,960,842 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,074,168,000 after acquiring an additional 33,193 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Express by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,682,959 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $456,418,000 after purchasing an additional 7,676 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

About American Express

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.