Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Invests $374,000 in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,940 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $374,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in Exelon by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 217,868 shares of the company's stock worth $8,201,000 after purchasing an additional 14,158 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position 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 buying an additional 279,827 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC increased its position in Exelon by 431.3% in the 3rd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 395,840 shares of the company's stock worth $16,051,000 after buying an additional 321,333 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Exelon by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,446,408 shares of the company's stock worth $261,402,000 after buying an additional 123,466 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased 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 worth $2,439,862,000 after buying an additional 2,156,259 shares during the period. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on EXC. Guggenheim raised Exelon from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Exelon in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exelon currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.13.

Insider Transactions at Exelon

In related news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total value of $59,353.91. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at $92,134.47. This trade represents a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Exelon Stock Performance

Shares of EXC traded up $0.41 on Friday, reaching $44.20. 12,319,512 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,400,085. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $40.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.35. Exelon Co. has a 12 month low of $34.01 and a 12 month high of $44.46. The firm has a market cap of $44.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.56.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (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 last year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. This is a boost from Exelon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Exelon's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.