Meridian Wealth Management LLC Buys Shares of 4,956 American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $509,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AEP. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 7.0% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in American Electric Power in the first quarter valued at $37,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 1.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 724,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,381,000 after acquiring an additional 12,894 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 5.8% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 13,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,126,000 after acquiring an additional 724 shares during the period. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 4.5% in the first quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 49,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,257,000 after buying an additional 2,145 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Stock Down 0.5 %

AEP opened at $97.59 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50-day moving average of $99.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.54. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.22 and a 12 month high of $105.18.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. This is a boost from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.81%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 74.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AEP shares. Bank of America raised their price target on American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on American Electric Power from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on American Electric Power from $97.00 to $96.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.00.

American Electric Power 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.