American Express (NYSE:AXP) Issues FY24 Earnings Guidance

American Express (NYSE:AXP) updated its FY24 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided EPS guidance of $12.65-$13.15 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $12.84. The company issued revenue guidance of $65.79-$67.0 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $66.24 billion. American Express also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 12.650-13.150 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on AXP. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on American Express from $229.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on American Express from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on American Express in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a buy rating and a $235.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated an outperform rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Stephens upgraded American Express from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $148.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Four research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $201.62.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $218.21 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $219.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $187.79. The stock has a market cap of $157.96 billion, a PE ratio of 19.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $231.69.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.01 by $0.32. 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at $12,248,905.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. 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 quarter. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 worth $2,028,913,000 after purchasing an additional 13,720,460 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $911,554,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 162.6% during the fourth 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 during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of American Express by 27.3% during the fourth 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 stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $124,325,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.