American Express (NYSE:AXP) Updates FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

American Express (NYSE:AXP) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 12.650-13.150 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 12.080. The company issued revenue guidance of $66.0 billion-$67.2 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $62.4 billion. American Express also updated its FY24 guidance to $12.65-$13.15 EPS.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer reissued an outperform rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of American Express from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $157.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays reissued an equal weight rating and issued a $221.00 price objective (up from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $229.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $201.62.

American Express Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of AXP opened at $217.51 on Friday. 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 50-day moving average price of $219.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $187.79. The stock has a market cap of $157.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $231.69.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.18%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.98%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of American Express 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 directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly 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. Insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AXP. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 5,566 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Frontier Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in American Express by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Frontier Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,355 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,344,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in American Express by 5.6% during the first 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 in 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 acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. 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.