American Express (NYSE:AXP) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.22 EPS

American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) announced its earnings results on Friday. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22, Zacks reports. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.49 earnings per share. American Express's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

American Express Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE AXP traded down $2.02 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $305.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 961,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,833,861. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $304.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $291.04. The stock has a market cap of $214.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.25. American Express Company has a 52 week low of $220.43 and a 52 week high of $329.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.69.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 price target on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on shares of American Express and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $307.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,590,251. This trade represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

An institutional investor recently raised its position in American Express stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 24.4% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 1,273 shares during the period. 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 currently owned by institutional investors.

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.