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

American Express (NYSE:AXP) released its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. 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 %

Shares of AXP opened at $231.04 on Friday. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week 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 company has a market capitalization of $167.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $220.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.65.

American Express Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388 over the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by 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 boosted its position in American Express by 118,198.3% during 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 purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $911,554,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in 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 worth $289,885,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214,731 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,132,318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CI Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $124,325,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Stephens raised 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 research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. DZ Bank lowered American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on American Express from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on American Express from $157.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently 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.