Andra AP fonden Sells 5,300 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Andra AP fonden trimmed its position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 19.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 22,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,300 shares during the quarter. Andra AP fonden’s holdings in PPL were worth $714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in PPL by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,459,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,215,363,000 after buying an additional 1,720,941 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in PPL by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,089,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,160,760,000 after buying an additional 2,050,122 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in PPL by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,758,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,115,824,000 after buying an additional 3,731,412 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in PPL by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,177,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $566,275,000 after buying an additional 201,417 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in PPL by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $215,430,000 after buying an additional 55,594 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on PPL. Citigroup increased their price objective on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays increased their price target on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $39,857.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,668.26. The trade was a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $32,843.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 45,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,520,460.72. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,779 shares of company stock worth $386,515. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL stock opened at $34.07 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $33.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $25.15 billion, a PE ratio of 28.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $25.93 and a 1-year high of $35.91.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. As a group, research analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 90.08%.

PPL Profile

PPL Corporation, an energy company, focuses on providing electricity and natural gas to approximately 3.6 million customers in the United States. It operates through three segments: Kentucky Regulated, Pennsylvania Regulated, and Rhode Island Regulated. The company delivers electricity to customers in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Virginia, and Rhode Island; delivers natural gas to customers in Kentucky and Rhode Island; and generates electricity from power plants in Kentucky.