Vestcor Inc Sells 21,537 Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Vestcor Inc trimmed its holdings in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 41.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,525 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,537 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Exelon were worth $1,149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Exelon by 25.9% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 2,356 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its holdings in Exelon by 209.5% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 25,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 17,334 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Exelon by 9.6% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 905 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Exelon by 7.1% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 33,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,354,000 after buying an additional 2,208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its position in shares of Exelon by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 57,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,329,000 after buying an additional 8,264 shares during the period. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Exelon Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:EXC opened at $44.19 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $44.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. Exelon Co. has a twelve month low of $34.01 and a twelve month high of $45.20. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $41.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 3.62%. This is an increase from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Exelon’s payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on EXC shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI raised Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exelon presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exelon 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,134.47. This represents a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.