Royal Bank of Canada Buys 410,749 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in American Express Company by 26.3%, owning approximately $530 million worth of shares as of the most recent SEC filing.
• Insiders have sold a total of 134,219 shares of American Express stock in the last three months, highlighting significant insider selling activity.
• American Express reported a better-than-expected earnings per share of $4.08 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates and marking a 9.3% revenue growth year-over-year.

Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 26.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,970,014 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 410,749 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.28% of American Express worth $530,032,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 5.5% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 680,308 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $183,037,000 after buying an additional 35,295 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc grew its stake in American Express by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 167,534 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $45,243,000 after buying an additional 2,259 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $509,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in American Express by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 94,458 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $25,088,000 after buying an additional 5,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Navis Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Express by 368.7% in the 1st quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $955,000 after buying an additional 2,791 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on American Express from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, DZ Bank cut American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $313.45.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP traded down $4.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $326.37. The company had a trading volume of 2,971,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,903,303. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $332.46. 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's 50-day moving average is $313.03 and its 200-day moving average is $290.94. The company has a market capitalization of $227.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 prior year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. American Express's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. American Express's dividend payout ratio is 23.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total value of $7,671,326.85. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 123,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,343,574.81. This trade represents a 15.98% decrease in their position. The sale 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 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,191.50. The trade was a 82.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 157,724 shares of company stock valued at $48,227,228 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

About American Express

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.