ClearBridge Investments Ltd Sells 816 Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

ClearBridge Investments Ltd trimmed its stake in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,089 shares of the company’s stock after selling 816 shares during the quarter. Exelon makes up 0.0% of ClearBridge Investments Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. ClearBridge Investments Ltd’s holdings in Exelon were worth $267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in shares of Exelon by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 2,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its position in shares of Exelon by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 9,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Exelon by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 13,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $495,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 18,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Exelon by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 11,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. 80.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exelon Price Performance

EXC stock opened at $44.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.25, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $42.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.14. Exelon Co. has a 52-week low of $34.01 and a 52-week high of $45.20.

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 period in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This is a boost from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. Exelon’s payout ratio is 65.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on Exelon from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim raised Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank lifted their target price 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. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $92,134.47. This represents a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.