Freedom Investment Management Inc. Sells 799 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,232 shares of the company’s stock after selling 799 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $1,255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 14.4% in the second quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 120,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,572,000 after purchasing an additional 15,138 shares in the last quarter. MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 13.2% in the second quarter. MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,730,000 after purchasing an additional 4,971 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 1,140.5% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 456,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,070,000 after purchasing an additional 419,870 shares in the last quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the third quarter worth $3,404,000. Finally, ING Groep NV grew its stake in American Electric Power by 244.3% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 294,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,217,000 after acquiring an additional 208,974 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AEP. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.93.

American Electric Power Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ AEP opened at $99.89 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.22 and a 52 week high of $105.18. The firm has a market cap of $53.15 billion, a PE ratio of 20.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $98.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.67.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This is a positive change from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.55%.

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.