Prudential Financial Inc. Acquires 1,315,414 Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Prudential Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 110.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,503,517 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,315,414 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.25% of Exelon worth $94,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Exelon by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 127,335,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,792,903,000 after purchasing an additional 3,064,673 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Exelon by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,169,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,439,862,000 after buying an additional 2,156,259 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Exelon by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,945,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,048,823,000 after acquiring an additional 403,542 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Exelon by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,782,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,782,000 after acquiring an additional 1,858,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Exelon by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,967,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,626,000 after acquiring an additional 160,313 shares in the last quarter. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company 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. Guggenheim upgraded Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI upgraded Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.13.

Exelon Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ EXC opened at $43.58 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $42.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.87. Exelon Co. has a 52-week low of $34.01 and a 52-week high of $45.20. The company has a market capitalization of $44.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last released 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 return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 10.68%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,134.47. This trade represents a 39.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Exelon 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.