American Express (NYSE:AXP) Given New $320.00 Price Target at UBS Group

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price target increased by UBS Group from $283.00 to $320.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the payment services company's stock.

AXP has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $350.00 price target for the company. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $277.82.

American Express Stock Up 1.4 %

American Express stock traded up $4.03 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $297.33. 2,202,693 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,233,020. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick 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's fifty day moving average price is $296.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $269.64. The company has a market cap of $209.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AXP. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 4,060 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,205,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $262,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth $9,364,000. Northstar Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC now owns 10,332 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $3,066,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its position in shares of American Express by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 4,054 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,203,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. 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.