Truist Financial Corp Grows Stock Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 2.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 244,588 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,044 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in American Express were worth $78,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 680,308 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $183,037,000 after buying an additional 35,295 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 1.4% during 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 in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in American Express in the 1st quarter worth $509,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted 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 worth $25,088,000 after purchasing an additional 5,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Navis Wealth Advisors LLC lifted 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 worth $955,000 after purchasing an additional 2,791 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock opened at $328.76 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $319.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $297.32. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $349.19. 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 cap of $228.77 billion, a PE ratio of 23.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.29.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AXP. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $311.00 to $362.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $319.95.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total transaction of $37,034,041.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,614,306.60. This represents a 54.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270 in the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.