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

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 140.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird raised American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of American Express from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $303.52.

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American Express Trading Down 0.1 %

AXP traded down $0.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $270.48. The company had a trading volume of 4,225,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,626,273. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $298.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $288.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The company has a market cap of $190.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 12-month low of $214.51 and a 12-month high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a boost from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.41%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % 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 insiders.

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.