American Electric Power Company, Inc. $AEP Stock Acquired by Machina Capital S.A.S.

Machina Capital S.A.S. lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 66.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,436 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,171 shares during the quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $1,831,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in American Electric Power during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,980,601,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in American Electric Power during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,678,638,000. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in American Electric Power during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,404,094,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $680,638,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $495,495,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Electric Power

In other news, CAO Kate Dixon sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,982,000. This trade represents a 11.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AEP. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on American Electric Power from $148.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. UBS Group set a $135.00 price target on American Electric Power in a report on Monday, October 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on American Electric Power from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $139.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $139.83.

American Electric Power Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ AEP opened at $128.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.46. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $112.54 and a 52-week high of $140.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $124.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.19. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 10.52% and a net margin of 14.21%. The company had revenue of $6.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 6.44 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.97 per share. This is a positive change from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. This represents a $3.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.68%.

About American Electric Power

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) is an electric utility holding company based in Columbus, Ohio. Through its regulated utility subsidiaries, it generates or purchases electricity and delivers power to residential, commercial and industrial customers. AEP’s operations include electric generation, transmission and distribution, with service territories across 11 states: Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.