American Express (NYSE:AXP) Hits New 52-Week High After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

American Express (NYSE:AXP)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $232.87 and last traded at $232.87, with a volume of 16780 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $231.04.

The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.39%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. HSBC upped their target price on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $201.81.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Venture Visionary Partners LLC lifted its position in American Express by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 23,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,349,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in American Express by 417.3% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 415,696 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $77,876,000 after buying an additional 335,338 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. acquired a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $2,460,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its position in American Express by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,806 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,837,000 after buying an additional 2,572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in American Express by 1,313.2% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 768,769 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,440,210,000 after buying an additional 714,370 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.73. The company has a market capitalization of $168.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $220.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.95.

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.