Bank of America Increases American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target to $265.00

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its target price increased by Bank of America from $263.00 to $265.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the payment services company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. William Blair reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $230.78.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $268.95 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $249.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $236.97. The stock has a market cap of $193.46 billion, a PE ratio of 22.15, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $271.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.60 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.12 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 119.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,993,000 after purchasing an additional 21,508 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in American Express by 102.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after buying an additional 6,329 shares during the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP acquired a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,881,000. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its stake in American Express by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 35,763 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,143,000 after buying an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in American Express by 49.0% in the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 279,106 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $63,550,000 after buying an additional 91,760 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.