American Express Company $AXP Stock Sold by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp reduced its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 1.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 303,707 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 3,863 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in American Express were worth $92,357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $14,208,662,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in American Express by 40.2% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 40,967,262 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $13,857,176,000 after buying an additional 11,739,541 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of American Express by 8.4% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,969,555 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,695,702,000 after buying an additional 614,981 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the second quarter worth $253,945,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the second quarter worth $1,263,787,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, CEO Stephen Squeri sold 299,401 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.16, for a total transaction of $99,449,036.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 60,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,117,934.72. This trade represents a 83.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 69,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.17, for a total value of $22,925,956.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,954,186.34. This represents a 88.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 414,171 shares of company stock worth $137,069,544 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 1.4%

AXP opened at $318.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.58. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $290.97 and a fifty-two week high of $387.49. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $315.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $324.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.93, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.09.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 23rd. The payment services company reported $4.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.50 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $20.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.12 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.80% and a return on equity of 34.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.14 earnings per share. American Express has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that American Express Company will post 17.98 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 10th. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th were issued a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 9th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AXP. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on American Express from $382.00 to $380.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on American Express from $415.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 9th. BTIG Research lowered their target price on American Express from $315.00 to $230.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 7th. UBS Group increased their target price on American Express from $345.00 to $346.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $365.42.

American Express Company Profile

American Express Company is a global payments and financial services company that operates a card-issuing business and a payments network. Its products and services include consumer, small-business and corporate cards, payment processing, lending, travel services and expense-management solutions. Founded in 1850 as an express mail business, the company expanded into financial services and became known for its charge cards and travel-related services. Today, it serves cardholders and businesses in the United States and markets around the world, connecting customers, merchants and financial institutions through its network.