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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 Trading Up 6.2 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $231.04 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.24 billion, a PE ratio of 19.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $231.69. The business has a 50-day moving average of $220.06 and a 200 day moving average of $188.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. 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 presently 23.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Robert W. Baird lowered American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group upped their target price on American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on American Express from $229.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. DZ Bank lowered American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Four equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $201.62.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388 in the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC now owns 2,214 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $415,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in American Express by 1.2% in the first quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 5,566 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Frontier Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in American Express by 0.5% in the first quarter. Frontier Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,355 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,344,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its stake in American Express by 5.6% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,421 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Becker Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in American Express by 1.2% in the first quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,263 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

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.