American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Stake Decreased by GS Investments Inc.

GS Investments Inc. trimmed its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 19,389 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,020 shares during the quarter. GS Investments Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $1,788,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,760,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114,954 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 2.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,524,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,280,655,000 after buying an additional 352,588 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 18.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,866,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $704,549,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087,163 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,644,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,009,000 after acquiring an additional 100,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,844,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,551,000 after purchasing an additional 84,704 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AEP shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Guggenheim upgraded American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 price objective (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.23.

American Electric Power Price Performance

NASDAQ AEP opened at $105.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.44 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.44. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $79.16 and a twelve month high of $109.52.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.24. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 15.08%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.43%.

American Electric Power Company Profile

American Electric Power Company, Inc, an electric public utility holding company, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale to retail and wholesale customers in the United States. It operates through Vertically Integrated Utilities, Transmission and Distribution Utilities, AEP Transmission Holdco, and Generation & Marketing segments.