Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases 50,277 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in American Express by 5.1%, purchasing an additional 50,277 shares, bringing its total ownership to over 1 million shares valued at approximately $278 million.
• Insider sales have occurred recently, with two executives selling a total of 134,219 shares worth about $40.6 million, resulting in significant decreases in their ownership percentages.
• American Express reported a 9.3% year-over-year revenue growth with earnings of $4.08 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, and also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share.

Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 5.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,034,409 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 50,277 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.15% of American Express worth $278,307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in American Express by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,633 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. GHE LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 17,021 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $5,052,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Sarl boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 54.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 3,673 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,090,000 after buying an additional 1,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 7,449 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $2,211,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the firm'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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. This trade represents a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total transaction of $15,475,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,219 shares of company stock worth $40,555,901 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $311.05.

American Express Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of AXP stock opened at $305.36 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $307.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $290.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a market capitalization of $212.49 billion, a PE ratio of 21.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.28. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $329.14.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

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

American Express 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.

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