Prudential Financial Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 110.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,503,517 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,315,414 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Exelon were worth $94,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Exelon by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 217,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,201,000 after buying an additional 14,158 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in Exelon by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,624,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,158,000 after acquiring an additional 279,827 shares during the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exelon by 431.3% in the 3rd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 395,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,051,000 after acquiring an additional 321,333 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Exelon by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,169,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,439,862,000 after acquiring an additional 2,156,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exelon during the fourth quarter worth about $2,274,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Exelon Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ EXC opened at $43.58 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $44.00 billion, a PE ratio of 17.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. Exelon Co. has a 1-year low of $34.01 and a 1-year high of $45.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $42.09 and a 200-day moving average of $40.00. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. This is a boost from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total transaction of $59,353.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group increased their target price on Exelon from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.13.

Exelon Company Profile

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.