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

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

American Express Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $251.48 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $274.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $287.71. The company has a market capitalization of $176.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. American Express has a 1 year low of $217.18 and a 1 year high of $326.28. 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. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $343.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price 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 dropped their price objective on shares of American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $294.90.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on 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 $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the purchase, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

An institutional investor recently raised its position in American Express stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 24.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm 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 at the end of the most recent quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

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.