Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Price

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its target price reduced by stock analysts at Citigroup from $320.00 to $300.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the payment services company’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 8.45% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. HSBC raised their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Argus lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of American Express from $326.00 to $325.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.57.

American Express Price Performance

AXP traded up $6.12 on Monday, reaching $276.63. 496,733 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,618,147. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $298.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $288.81. American Express has a twelve month low of $214.51 and a twelve month high of $326.28. The stock has a market cap of $194.34 billion, a PE ratio of 19.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in American Express by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 382,701 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $113,582,000 after purchasing an additional 73,442 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,605 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Old North State Trust LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $280,000. IronOak Wealth LLC. acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,483,000. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $75,000. 84.33% of the stock is 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.