Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Buys 6,792 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 140.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,616 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,792 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,449,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 36,719.1% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,011,790 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $300,289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,009,042 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth $292,081,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 8.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after purchasing an additional 866,110 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 35,213.7% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $86,002,000 after purchasing an additional 316,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in American Express by 73.7% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 707,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $191,842,000 after purchasing an additional 300,138 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird raised American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Argus lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $303.52.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $998,593. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE AXP opened at $262.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $184.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $300.06 and its 200-day moving average is $288.47. American Express has a one year low of $214.51 and a one year high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.41%.

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.