Crowley Wealth Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 4,540 American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 4,540 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $419,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,690,606 shares of the company's stock worth $4,767,425,000 after buying an additional 763,813 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 987,885 shares of the company's stock worth $91,113,000 after acquiring an additional 112,807 shares during the last quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,668 shares of the company's stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,369,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 38.8% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 559,967 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,646,000 after purchasing an additional 156,563 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

American Electric Power Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ AEP traded up $1.25 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $105.15. The stock had a trading volume of 5,232,599 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,871,733. The company's 50 day moving average price is $102.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $99.13. 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 twelve month low of $79.16 and a twelve month high of $109.52. The firm has a market cap of $56.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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 in the previous year, the company earned $1.23 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS 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 $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. American Electric Power's payout ratio is currently 66.43%.

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.