American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Sold by First National Corp MA ADV

First National Corp MA ADV decreased its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 79.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,467 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 33,052 shares during the quarter. First National Corp MA ADV's holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in American Water Works by 945.5% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,806,146 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $238,397,000 after acquiring an additional 1,633,389 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in American Water Works by 12,816.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,464,674 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $189,177,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,334 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in American Water Works during the first quarter worth $108,688,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in American Water Works by 2.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,012,272,000 after acquiring an additional 624,977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC increased its stake in American Water Works by 70.3% during the first quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 958,309 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $117,115,000 after acquiring an additional 395,684 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at American Water Works

In related news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total value of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,268,308. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

American Water Works Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:AWK traded down $1.20 on Wednesday, hitting $136.19. 857,924 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,223,905. The firm's 50-day moving average is $143.93 and its 200 day moving average is $133.98. The company has a market capitalization of $26.53 billion, a PE ratio of 27.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.69. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $150.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.64.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 21.93%. The company's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AWK shares. Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut American Water Works from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised American Water Works to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on American Water Works in a research note on Monday. They set an "underperform" rating and a $124.00 target price for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $138.25.

American Water Works Company Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides water and wastewater services in the United States. It offers water and wastewater services to approximately 1,700 communities in 14 states serving approximately 3.5 million active customers. The company serves residential customers; commercial customers, including food and beverage providers, commercial property developers and proprietors, and energy suppliers; fire service and private fire customers; industrial customers, such as large-scale manufacturers, mining, and production operations; public authorities comprising government buildings and other public sector facilities, such as schools and universities; and other utilities and community water and wastewater systems.