Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Has $1.31 Million Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,824 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. boosted its holdings in American Express by 42.2% in the second quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the second quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management bought a new stake in American Express in the second quarter worth $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $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. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $305.37 on Tuesday. American Express has a 12-month low of $163.32 and a 12-month high of $305.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $215.12 billion, a PE ratio of 22.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $276.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $253.82.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. BTIG Research cut shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

About American Express

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.