Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $85.90 and last traded at $85.87, with a volume of 4,638,198 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $85.52.
The payment services company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $8.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.20 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 14.11%. The firm’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.10 EPS.
American Express declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 28th that allows the company to repurchase $4.40 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the payment services company to purchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AXP. Credit Suisse Group reissued a “sell” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Barclays PLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a research note on Thursday, July 20th. BidaskClub raised American Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 8th. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $94.00 price objective (up from $87.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Saturday, July 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Group LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of American Express in a research report on Saturday, July 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.77.
In related news, Vice Chairman Stephen J. Squeri sold 94,792 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.41, for a total value of $8,096,184.72. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 261,665 shares in the company, valued at $22,348,807.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Marc D. Gordon sold 4,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.98, for a total value of $377,202.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 948,287 shares of company stock worth $80,321,961. 0.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in American Express by 1.5% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,233,957 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,231,710,000 after buying an additional 731,428 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in American Express by 1.1% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 44,685,897 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,764,339,000 after buying an additional 508,030 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in American Express by 1.8% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 40,399,620 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,196,011,000 after buying an additional 731,315 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in American Express by 21.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,198,787 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,360,596,000 after buying an additional 3,071,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in American Express by 0.6% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 16,342,822 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,376,719,000 after buying an additional 103,546 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.86% of the company’s stock.
The stock has a 50 day moving average of $84.99 and a 200-day moving average of $80.40. The company has a market cap of $76.72 billion, a PE ratio of 17.80 and a beta of 1.18.
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American Express Company Profile
American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, is a global services company. The Company’s principal products and services are charge and credit card products, and travel-related services, which are offered to consumers and businesses around the world. Its segments include the U.S. Consumer Services (USCS), International Consumer and Network Services (ICNS), Global Commercial Services (GCS) and Global Merchant Services (GMS).
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