American Express (NYSE:AXP) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.17 EPS

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

American Express Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $253.30 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $275.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $287.85. American Express has a 1-year low of $216.52 and a 1-year high of $326.28. The company has a market cap of $177.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08, 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.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders 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 is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in American Express stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 24.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,481 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,273 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on AXP. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Baird R W raised American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.81.

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.