Howard Capital Management Inc. Has $1.37 Million Stock Holdings in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC - Free Report) by 29.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,374 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 8,371 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Exelon were worth $1,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exelon by 3.5% in the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,533 shares of the company's stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in Exelon by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 57,661 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,338,000 after buying an additional 2,271 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Exelon by 4,103.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,046,630 shares of the company's stock worth $42,441,000 after buying an additional 1,021,731 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Exelon by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 36,818 shares of the company's stock worth $1,493,000 after buying an additional 2,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Exelon by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 13,922 shares of the company's stock valued at $565,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.92% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Exelon

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

Exelon Price Performance

EXC traded down $0.23 on Thursday, hitting $43.84. 6,560,723 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,270,625. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Exelon Co. has a 12 month low of $34.01 and a 12 month high of $44.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.89, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.23.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Exelon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Exelon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on EXC shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Exelon from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $44.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Exelon in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.13.

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.