Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co Lowers Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co trimmed its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,687 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 86 shares during the quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co’s holdings in American Express were worth $458,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,923,399,000 after buying an additional 662,382 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of American Express by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $590,940,000 after acquiring an additional 195,876 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of American Express by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $485,525,000 after acquiring an additional 387,166 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth $433,709,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of American Express by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,798,742 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $408,494,000 after acquiring an additional 224,079 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $269.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 12 month low of $141.02 and a 12 month high of $286.36. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $263.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $244.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.