LPL Financial LLC Cuts Position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

LPL Financial LLC decreased its position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 352,704 shares of the company’s stock after selling 33,377 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Exelon were worth $13,276,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in shares of Exelon by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 2,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its holdings in Exelon by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 9,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC increased its stake in Exelon by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 13,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its holdings in Exelon by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 18,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Exelon by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 11,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $450,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Exelon Stock Up 0.1 %

Exelon stock opened at $45.97 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.27. Exelon Co. has a twelve month low of $34.01 and a twelve month high of $46.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.76, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 10.68%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. This is an increase from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelon

In other news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total transaction of $59,353.91. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,134.47. This represents a 39.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on EXC. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Exelon from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank upped their target price on Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI raised Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Guggenheim raised Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.13.

About Exelon

Exelon Corporation, a utility services holding company, engages in the energy distribution and transmission businesses in the United States and Canada. The company is involved in the purchase and regulated retail sale of electricity and natural gas, transmission and distribution of electricity, and distribution of natural gas to retail customers.