Morgan Stanley Boosts American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target to $252.00

by · The Markets Daily

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective upped by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $248.00 to $252.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the payment services company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential downside of 6.64% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. BTIG Research lowered shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. HSBC lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Four equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $244.58.

Get Our Latest Report on American Express

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP traded down $6.86 on Monday, hitting $269.93. The company had a trading volume of 2,390,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,927,346. The company has a market capitalization of $194.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.23, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $261.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $244.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $286.36.

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 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Western Financial Corp CA increased its holdings in American Express by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 5,944 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,612,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $65,000. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,758 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Sharkey Howes & Javer acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $634,000. Finally, Marino Stram & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 2,474 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $671,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

About American Express

(Get Free Report)

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.

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