California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,458,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 6,215 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.46% of WEC Energy Group worth $137,139,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $453,794,000 after acquiring an additional 4,691,017 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $188,879,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 17.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $462,276,000 after purchasing an additional 699,177 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 897.4% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 568,629 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $54,694,000 after purchasing an additional 511,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth about $36,421,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $101.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total value of $2,715,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 274,955 shares in the company, valued at $29,865,612.10. This represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,286,635.67. This trade represents a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC stock traded down $1.56 during trading on Friday, hitting $106.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 683,476 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,099,325. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.47 and a 52 week high of $111.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $104.41 and a 200-day moving average of $99.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $34.13 billion, a PE ratio of 22.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.06). WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

About WEC Energy Group

WEC Energy Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides regulated natural gas and electricity, and renewable and nonregulated renewable energy services in the United States. It operates through Wisconsin, Illinois, Other States, Electric Transmission, and Non-Utility Energy Infrastructure segments.