American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Shares Sold by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. trimmed its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,164 shares of the company’s stock after selling 453 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $4,073,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AEP. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in American Electric Power by 109.5% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,753,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,079,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962,125 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 4.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,760,223,000 after buying an additional 1,114,954 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,866,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $704,549,000 after buying an additional 1,087,163 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new position in American Electric Power during the 3rd quarter worth about $80,207,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 31.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,075,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,498,000 after acquiring an additional 738,756 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:AEP opened at $106.05 on Friday. 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 1 year low of $79.16 and a 1 year high of $107.84. The stock has a market cap of $56.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.38.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AEP shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $96.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Scotiabank lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on American Electric Power from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.00 target price (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five 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 $98.46.

About American Electric Power

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.