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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $157.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of American Express from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $245.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Stephens raised shares of American Express from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and raised their price target for the company from $148.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $201.62.

American Express Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $218.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $157.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $219.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $231.69.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.01 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 30.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in American Express by 118,198.3% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,732,068 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,028,913,000 after purchasing an additional 13,720,460 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $911,554,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in American Express by 162.6% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,961,999 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $289,885,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214,731 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in American Express by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,272,934 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $987,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132,318 shares during the period. Finally, CI Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $124,325,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.