Heartland Advisors Inc. Sells 20,192 Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Heartland Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC - Free Report) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 299,305 shares of the company's stock after selling 20,192 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Exelon were worth $11,266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EXC. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Exelon during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Stephens Consulting LLC grew its holdings in shares of Exelon by 78.1% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 782 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new position in Exelon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Exelon in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in Exelon by 119.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 942 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at $92,134.47. This represents a 39.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EXC. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Exelon in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank boosted their target price 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Exelon from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $45.13.

Exelon Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of EXC traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $46.00. The stock had a trading volume of 2,594,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,823,744. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.79, 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 $46.33. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.19. 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 (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change from Exelon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. 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. Exelon's payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

Exelon 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.