Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
(a) Our common stock trades principally on The New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol AXP. As of December 31, 2023, we had 17,300 common shareholders of record. You can find dividend information concerning our common stock in the Consolidated Statements of Shareholders’ Equity in the “Consolidated Financial Statements.” For information on dividend restrictions, see “Supervision and Regulation — Dividends and Other Capital Distributions” under “Business” and Note 22 to the “Consolidated Financial Statements.” You can find information on securities authorized for issuance under our equity compensation plans under the caption “Executive Compensation — Equity Compensation Plans” to be contained in our definitive 2024 proxy statement for our Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which is scheduled to be held on May 6, 2024. The information to be found under such caption is incorporated herein by reference. Our definitive 2024 proxy statement for our Annual Meeting of Shareholders is expected to be filed with the SEC in March 2024 (and, in any event, not later than 120 days after the close of our most recently completed fiscal year).
Stock Performance Graph
The information contained in this Stock Performance Graph section shall not be deemed to be “soliciting material” or “filed” or incorporated by reference in future filings with the SEC, or subject to the liabilities of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, except to the extent that we specifically incorporate it by reference into a document filed under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act.
The following graph compares the cumulative total shareholder return on our common shares with the total return on the S&P 500 Index and the S&P Financial Index for the last five years. It shows the growth of a $100 investment on December 31, 2018, including the reinvestment of all dividends.
Year-end Data 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
American Express $ 100.00 $ 132.52 $ 131.00 $ 179.32 $ 164.02 $ 211.08
S&P 500 Index $ 100.00 $ 131.47 $ 155.65 $ 200.29 $ 163.98 $ 207.04
S&P Financial Index $ 100.00 $ 132.09 $ 129.77 $ 175.02 $ 156.52 $ 175.46
40
Table of Contents
(b) Not applicable.
(c) Issuer Purchases of Securities
The table below sets forth the information with respect to purchases of our common stock made by or on behalf of us during the three months ended December 31, 2023.
Total Number of Shares
Purchased Average Price Paid Per
Share (c)
Total Number of Shares
Purchased as Part of
Publicly Announced Plans
or Programs (d)
Maximum Number of
Shares that May
Yet Be
Purchased Under the
Plans
or Programs
October 1-31, 2023
Repurchase program (a)
1,056,705 $ 143.46 1,056,705 103,744,000
Employee transactions (b)
14,403 $ 142.55 N/A N/A
November 1-30, 2023
Repurchase program (a)
3,923,088 $ 158.36 3,923,088 99,820,912
Employee transactions (b)
— $ — N/A N/A
December 1-31, 2023
Repurchase program (a)
740,155 $ 171.63 740,155 99,080,757
Employee transactions (b)
— $ — N/A N/A
Total
Repurchase program (a)
5,719,948 $ 157.33 5,719,948 99,080,757
Employee transactions (b)
14,403 $ 142.55 N/A N/A
(a) On March 8, 2023, the Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to 120 million common shares from time to time, subject to market conditions and in accordance with our capital plans. This authorization replaced the prior repurchase authorization. See “Consolidated Capital Resources and Liquidity” under “MD&A” for additional information regarding share repurchases.
(b) Includes: (i) shares surrendered by holders of employee stock options who exercised options (granted under our incentive compensation plans) in satisfaction of the exercise price and/or tax withholding obligation of such holders and (ii) restricted shares withheld (under the terms of grants under our incentive compensation plans) to offset tax withholding obligations that occur upon vesting and release of restricted shares. Our incentive compensation plans provide that the value of the shares delivered or attested to, or withheld, be based on the price of our common stock on the date the relevant transaction occurs.
(c) The average price paid per share does not reflect costs and taxes associated with the purchase of shares.
(d) Share purchases under publicly announced programs are made pursuant to open market purchases, plans intended to satisfy the affirmative defense conditions of Rule 10b5-1(c) under the Exchange Act, privately negotiated transactions or other purchases, including block trades, accelerated share repurchase programs or any combination of such methods as market conditions warrant and at prices we deem appropriate.
ITEM 6. [RESERVED]
41
Table of Contents