Harbour Investments Inc. Boosts Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,420 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the quarter. Harbour Investments Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in American Express by 36,719.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,011,790 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $300,289,000 after buying an additional 1,009,042 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $292,081,000. FMR LLC raised its position in American Express by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after buying an additional 866,110 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in American Express by 35,213.7% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $86,002,000 after buying an additional 316,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in American Express by 73.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 707,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $191,842,000 after buying an additional 300,138 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AXP. StockNews.com lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $299.24.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of 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 Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of AXP opened at $264.36 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. American Express has a 1 year low of $214.51 and a 1 year high of $326.28. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $300.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $288.45. The firm has a market cap of $185.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. On average, equities analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.41%.

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.