American International Group (NYSE:AIG) Given New $79.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

American International Group (NYSE:AIG) had its price objective increased by Morgan Stanley from $72.00 to $79.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

AIG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen began coverage on American International Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a market perform rating and a $78.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on American International Group from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on American International Group from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group increased their price objective on American International Group from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lowered American International Group from a buy rating to a neutral rating and increased their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American International Group has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $79.06.

American International Group Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of AIG opened at $72.58 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $49.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. American International Group has a 1 year low of $48.95 and a 1 year high of $78.95.

American International Group (NYSE:AIG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The insurance provider reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $1.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. American International Group had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 7.78%. American International Group’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that American International Group will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American International Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. American International Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John C. Inglis acquired 659 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $75.39 per share, for a total transaction of $49,682.01. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 659 shares in the company, valued at $49,682.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director John C. Inglis acquired 659 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $75.39 per share, for a total transaction of $49,682.01. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 659 shares in the company, valued at $49,682.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter Zaffino sold 333,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.87, for a total value of $25,264,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 505,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,346,215.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American International Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of American International Group by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,032,907 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $138,014,000 after acquiring an additional 319,948 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American International Group by 22.6% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 422,852 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,625,000 after acquiring an additional 77,874 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of American International Group by 121.4% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 38,809 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,629,000 after acquiring an additional 21,279 shares in the last quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American International Group during the fourth quarter valued at $1,072,000. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH increased its holdings in shares of American International Group by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 581,239 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $39,379,000 after acquiring an additional 66,603 shares in the last quarter. 90.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About American International Group

American International Group, Inc offers insurance products for commercial, institutional, and individual customers in North America and internationally. It operates through three segments: General Insurance, Life and Retirement, and Other Operations. The General Insurance segment provides commercial and industrial property insurance, including business interruption and package insurance that cover exposure to made and natural disasters; general liability, environmental, commercial automobile liability, workers' compensation, excess casualty, and crisis management insurance products; and professional liability insurance.