Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) Stock Price

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) had its price objective cut by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $114.00 to $113.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley's price target indicates a potential upside of 10.11% from the company's previous close.

Several other research firms have also commented on AEP. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $102.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on American Electric Power from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on American Electric Power from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $105.69.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $102.63 on Thursday. American Electric Power has a twelve month low of $85.93 and a twelve month high of $110.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.44. The business has a fifty day moving average of $105.24 and a 200-day moving average of $100.43. The firm has a market cap of $54.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 11.27%. American Electric Power's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Electric Power will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other American Electric Power news, EVP Quinton S. Lies sold 10,141 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.68, for a total transaction of $1,041,277.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,658 shares in the company, valued at $991,683.44. This trade represents a 51.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of American Electric Power

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,269,781 shares of the company's stock worth $5,711,519,000 after acquiring an additional 579,175 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 24.3% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 22,102,537 shares of the company's stock worth $2,415,144,000 after acquiring an additional 4,323,569 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 30.4% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 19,631,466 shares of the company's stock worth $2,145,130,000 after buying an additional 4,570,941 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,808,003 shares of the company's stock worth $1,178,174,000 after purchasing an additional 283,311 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in American Electric Power by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,603,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $793,510,000 after purchasing an additional 716,229 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.