American Express Company $AXP Shares Bought by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Key Points

• Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in American Express by 26.4% during the first quarter, owning approximately 0.07% of the company with a valuation of $127.3 million.
• Notable institutional investors, such as Nuveen LLC and DZ BANK AG, also significantly increased their holdings in American Express, highlighting growing institutional interest.
• American Express reported earnings of $4.08 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.82, indicating a 1.0% dividend yield.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 26.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 473,251 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 98,906 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.07% of American Express worth $127,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth about $1,454,667,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in shares of American Express by 463.3% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,357,487 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,293,259,000 after acquiring an additional 3,583,959 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of American Express by 13.7% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $4,849,777,000 after acquiring an additional 2,168,445 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 27,625.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $581,914,000 after acquiring an additional 2,155,045 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Express by 25.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,278,711,000 after acquiring an additional 965,221 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total transaction of $15,475,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction of $1,709,235.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 134,219 shares of company stock valued at $40,555,901. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded down $0.08 on Tuesday, hitting $331.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,224,988 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,902,248. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The company has a market capitalization of $230.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $311.91 and a 200-day moving average of $290.30. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $332.06.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.49 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. American Express's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $327.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of American Express from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered shares of American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $311.05.

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.