American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI

Key Points

• Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI reduced its holdings in American Express by 74.0%, selling 63,729 shares to now own 22,420 shares valued at approximately $6 million.
• American Express recently reported better-than-expected earnings with $4.08 earnings per share, surpassing analysts' estimates by $0.22, and reported a 9.3% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, with an annual yield of 1.1%, to be paid on August 8th.

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lowered its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 74.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,420 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 63,729 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI's holdings in American Express were worth $6,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arista Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,275 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $675,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management grew its position in American Express by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 1,661 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in American Express by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.8% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 5,236 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,362,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arcus Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 0.3% during the first quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,623 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $3,127,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock traded up $2.68 on Friday, hitting $297.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,778,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,640,008. The company has a market capitalization of $206.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.28. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $329.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $306.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $290.91.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.02%.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total transaction of $5,011,520.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,653,764.83. The trade was a 65.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,391,191.50. The trade was a 82.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,219 shares of company stock worth $40,555,901 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. DZ Bank downgraded American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. BTIG Research set a $277.00 target price on American Express and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average 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.