Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 194,280 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,900,553 shares of the company’s stock after selling 194,280 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $451,978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ bought a new position in American Electric Power in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AEP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective (down previously from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Scotiabank cut shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective 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 report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.77.

American Electric Power Price Performance

NASDAQ AEP opened at $107.75 on Thursday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a one year low of $79.16 and a one year high of $109.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $103.44 and a 200 day moving average of $99.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.44. The company has a market capitalization of $57.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24. American Electric Power had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 11.27%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.