Harbor Investment Advisory LLC Has $1.51 Million Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,074 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 83 shares during the quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 23.9% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,979 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,469,000 after purchasing an additional 2,894 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in American Express by 4.5% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 40,554 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $9,390,000 after buying an additional 1,754 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 222,597 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $51,542,000 after buying an additional 14,347 shares during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at about $105,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,481 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $881,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Express Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $312.75 on Tuesday. American Express has a 52-week low of $177.81 and a 52-week high of $315.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The company has a market capitalization of $220.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $299.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $272.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 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 company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.48 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Compass Point lifted their target price on American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com upgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, HSBC cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten 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 price target of $278.09.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.