American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Cross Above Fifty Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)’s stock price passed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $317.76 and traded as high as $318.81. American Express shares last traded at $318.3760, with a volume of 2,146,266 shares trading hands.

American Express News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting American Express this week:

• Positive Sentiment: American Express introduced a new redemption option allowing eligible consumer and business cash-back cardmembers to deposit Reward Dollars into American Express High Yield Savings Accounts and Business Checking Accounts. The feature could improve customer retention, deepen relationships across the company’s card and banking products, and support deposit growth. American Express Connects Cash Back to High Yield Savings Accounts and Business Checking Accounts
• Positive Sentiment: The launch of Canada’s first Hilton Honors American Express co-branded card expands the company’s international partnership with Hilton and could generate additional spending, fees, and customer acquisition. American Express and Hilton Launch Canada’s First Hilton Honors Credit Card
• Positive Sentiment: American Express benefited from positive payments-sector sentiment after Mastercard reported better-than-expected revenue and earnings, although the effect may be temporary. Mastercard Rises on Revenue and EPS Beat
• Neutral Sentiment: American Express issued $1.5 billion of fixed-to-floating-rate notes carrying a 5.447% rate. The financing provides capital, but increases interest expense and leverage exposure. American Express Issues New Fixed-to-Floating Rate Notes
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage remains mixed. Commentary favors Mastercard for faster growth, more diversified revenue, and lower credit risk, while other coverage highlights AXP’s strong profitability, revenue growth, share repurchases, and Berkshire Hathaway’s sizable stake.
• Negative Sentiment: A U.S. Bank risk executive is reportedly moving to American Express as the company deals with regulatory penalties related to anti-money-laundering compliance failures. The leadership addition may strengthen risk controls, but the penalties and compliance scrutiny create reputational and cost risks. U.S. Bank Risk Chief Heads to Amex
• Negative Sentiment: Relative-value analysis argues that Mastercard currently offers better growth prospects and lower credit risk than American Express, potentially limiting investor enthusiasm for AXP despite its lower valuation.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $312.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of American Express from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Loop Capital decreased their target price on American Express from $389.00 to $386.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $365.19.

American Express Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.02, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $317.18 and its 200 day moving average is $326.44.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 23rd. The payment services company reported $4.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.50 by $0.18. American Express had a net margin of 15.80% and a return on equity of 34.19%. The firm had revenue of $20.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. American Express has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS. On average, analysts predict that American Express Company will post 17.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 10th. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.40%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the second quarter valued at $14,208,662,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in American Express by 40.2% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 40,967,262 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $13,857,176,000 after acquiring an additional 11,739,541 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in American Express by 8.4% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,969,555 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,695,702,000 after purchasing an additional 614,981 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LP increased its position in American Express by 492.2% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 4,771,292 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,613,890,000 after purchasing an additional 3,965,582 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in American Express in the second quarter worth about $1,263,787,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

About American Express

American Express Company is a global financial services company that provides payment, lending, travel and expense management products and services. Its offerings include consumer and small-business charge and credit cards, corporate payment programs, business financing solutions, deposit products and digital payment services.

The company operates an integrated payments network that connects card members, merchants and financial institutions. American Express also provides merchant acquisition and payment processing services, data and analytics, fraud prevention tools, and customer loyalty programs.