Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Increases Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,963 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 26,783.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,467,210,000 after buying an additional 906,353 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in American Express by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,984,208,000 after purchasing an additional 866,110 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its holdings in American Express by 924.2% in the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $197,149,000 after purchasing an additional 768,301 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 59,816.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $185,079,000 after purchasing an additional 681,304 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of American Express by 71.9% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,098 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $269,547,000 after buying an additional 486,755 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock opened at $294.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 1 year low of $177.81 and a 1 year high of $307.82. The company has a market cap of $207.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $296.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $269.09.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. HSBC downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $272.64.

American Express Company 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.