Magellan Asset Management Ltd Decreases Stake in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Magellan Asset Management Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 16.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 759,455 shares of the company’s stock after selling 147,184 shares during the quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Exelon were worth $28,586,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Exelon by 24.1% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 16,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $670,000 after acquiring an additional 3,208 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Exelon by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 46,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,869,000 after purchasing an additional 1,868 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Exelon in the third quarter valued at about $1,328,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Exelon by 18.5% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 17,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $714,000 after purchasing an additional 2,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Exelon by 465.2% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 214,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,693,000 after buying an additional 176,450 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelon

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of Exelon stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total value of $59,353.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at $92,134.47. The trade was a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on EXC. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays boosted 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.13.

Exelon Stock Performance

Shares of Exelon stock opened at $45.97 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $46.41 billion, a PE ratio of 18.76, 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 $46.47. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.27. 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 (NASDAQ:EXC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This is an increase from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Exelon’s payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

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.