American Express (NYSE:AXP) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.36 EPS

American Express (NYSE:AXP) released its quarterly earnings data on Friday. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $231.04 on Friday. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $231.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $220.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $188.65. The company has a market capitalization of $167.24 billion, a PE ratio of 19.03, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in American Express in the first quarter worth about $124,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $120,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $115,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the second quarter worth about $104,000. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the first quarter worth about $99,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on American Express from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group raised their price target on American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on American Express from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered American Express from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $212.00 to $222.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.