Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Buys 616 Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,455 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 616 shares during the quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Exelon were worth $356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXC. Stephens Consulting LLC raised its stake in shares of Exelon by 78.1% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Exelon in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new stake in Exelon in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Exelon in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Exelon by 56.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Exelon Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EXC opened at $43.39 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market cap of $43.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.56. Exelon Co. has a 12 month low of $34.01 and a 12 month high of $43.69. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $39.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.09.

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

Exelon Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EXC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim raised Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lowered their price target on Exelon from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI raised shares of Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $44.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total value of $59,353.91. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at $92,134.47. This represents a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.