American Express (NYSE:AXP) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.32 EPS

American Express (NYSE:AXP) issued its earnings results on Friday. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.01 by $0.32, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 30.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. American Express updated its FY 2024 guidance to 12.650-13.150 EPS and its FY24 guidance to $12.65-$13.15 EPS.

American Express Trading Up 6.2 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $231.05 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $231.69. The company has a market capitalization of $167.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.61, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $220.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.35.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 24.98%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other American Express news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,480.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in American Express by 118,198.3% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,732,068 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,028,913,000 after buying an additional 13,720,460 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $911,554,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 162.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,961,999 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $289,885,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214,731 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in American Express by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,272,934 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $987,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CI Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $124,325,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens raised shares of American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $148.00 to $193.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on American Express from $157.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley cut American Express from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $212.00 to $222.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $229.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of American Express from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $201.62.

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.