American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target Increased to $205.00 by Analysts at Robert W. Baird

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its target price raised by Robert W. Baird from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underperform” rating on the payment services company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price target suggests a potential downside of 12.44% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Stephens raised shares of American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $148.00 to $193.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. DZ Bank downgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $210.24.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $234.13 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.29, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $240.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $223.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $193.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. On average, analysts predict that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,891,480.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at $12,248,905.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 203,891 shares of company stock valued at $44,373,196 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of American Express by 0.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,037,387,000 after acquiring an additional 41,443 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,112,747,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of American Express by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,855,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $909,575,000 after purchasing an additional 496,153 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of American Express by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $713,202,000 after purchasing an additional 667,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 3,572,743 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $533,018,000 after buying an additional 67,575 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

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.