American Express (NYSE:AXP) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

American Express (NYSE:AXP) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17, RTT News reports. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.33 earnings per share. American Express updated its FY 2025 guidance to 15.000-15.500 EPS.

American Express Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $251.48 on Friday. American Express has a 1-year low of $218.84 and a 1-year high of $326.28. The firm has a market cap of $176.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $272.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $287.59.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Argus downgraded shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Baird R W raised shares of American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $294.90.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in American Express stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 24.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,481 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 1,273 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,924,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.