Korea Investment CORP Sells 185,451 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Korea Investment CORP cut its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 35.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 332,187 shares of the company’s stock after selling 185,451 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned approximately 0.06% of American Electric Power worth $30,638,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in 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 in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 5.4% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 39,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,015,000 after purchasing an additional 1,990 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 46,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,793,000 after purchasing an additional 2,812 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in American Electric Power by 414.9% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 249,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,563,000 after purchasing an additional 200,761 shares during the period. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its stake in American Electric Power by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 9,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AEP shares. Guggenheim raised shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 price target (down previously from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank downgraded American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on American Electric Power from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.77.

American Electric Power Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:AEP opened at $106.96 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $102.78 and its 200 day moving average is $99.15. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.16 and a 12 month high of $109.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.08 billion, a PE ratio of 19.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued 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 3.48%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 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.