Morton Community Bank Reduces Position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Morton Community Bank lessened its stake in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 76,152 shares of the company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Morton Community Bank’s holdings in Exelon were worth $2,866,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 217,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,201,000 after acquiring an additional 14,158 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $61,158,000 after acquiring an additional 279,827 shares during the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC boosted 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,446,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $261,402,000 after acquiring an additional 123,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,156,259 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total value of $59,353.91. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,134.47. This trade represents a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Exelon Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of EXC opened at $43.11 on Monday. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $34.01 and a 12-month high of $45.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share 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 last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This is a positive change from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.31%.

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.