GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Sells 4,023 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. decreased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 169,798 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,023 shares during the quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD.'s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $18,554,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in American Electric Power by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,601 shares of the company's stock valued at $978,000 after buying an additional 1,095 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in American Electric Power in the 4th quarter valued at $149,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in American Electric Power by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,568 shares of the company's stock valued at $421,000 after buying an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in American Electric Power in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in American Electric Power by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $212,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $102.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $108.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Quinton S. Lies sold 10,141 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.68, for a total value of $1,041,277.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,658 shares in the company, valued at $991,683.44. This represents a 51.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP David Matthew Feinberg sold 8,058 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.74, for a total transaction of $819,820.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 10,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,045,276.76. This trade represents a 43.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,314 shares of company stock valued at $3,508,293. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AEP traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $103.41. The company had a trading volume of 1,620,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,215,880. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $86.83 and a 52 week high of $110.48. The stock has a market cap of $55.24 billion, a PE ratio of 19.92, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.42. The business's 50 day moving average price is $103.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.81.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 11.68%. American Electric Power's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.27 earnings per share. Analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. American Electric Power's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.68%.

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.