American Express (NYSE:AXP) Announces Earnings Results

American Express (NYSE:AXP) posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 30.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company 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 Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $231.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $167.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 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 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $231.69. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $220.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $188.65.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AXP shares. Robert W. Baird cut shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $221.00 price objective (up from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $201.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of American Express 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of American Express 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,522,816.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of 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. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of American Express by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,503,902 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,847,452,000 after purchasing an additional 35,760 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of American Express by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,785,059 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,458,454,000 after purchasing an additional 448,060 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,983,750 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,308,336,000 after purchasing an additional 270,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $911,554,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

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.