American Express (NYSE:AXP) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.36 EPS

American Express (NYSE:AXP) issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36, Briefing.com reports. American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. 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 Stock Up 6.2 %

AXP stock opened at $231.04 on Friday. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $231.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The stock has a market cap of $167.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.03, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $220.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.65.

American Express Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. RB Capital Management LLC raised its stake in American Express by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 3,783 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $707,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Roundview Capital LLC increased its stake in American Express by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 27,029 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $5,054,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its stake in American Express by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,421 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in American Express by 207.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 946 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the 1st quarter worth approximately $397,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price target on American Express from $229.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Robert W. Baird downgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley downgraded American Express from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $212.00 to $222.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $221.00 price target (up from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $201.62.

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.