Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 94,200 Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Renaissance Technologies LLC lowered its position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC - Free Report) by 23.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 311,824 shares of the company's stock after selling 94,200 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC's holdings in Exelon were worth $11,737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EXC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Exelon by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 127,335,351 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,792,903,000 after purchasing an additional 3,064,673 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Exelon by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,314,296 shares of the company's stock valued at $988,080,000 after buying an additional 368,505 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Exelon by 46.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,306,652 shares of the company's stock worth $651,422,000 after acquiring an additional 5,524,103 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Exelon by 25.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,718,745 shares of the company's stock valued at $516,374,000 after acquiring an additional 2,817,174 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Exelon during the fourth quarter valued at about $479,597,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.92% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of Exelon stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 39.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EXC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim raised Exelon from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank raised their price target on Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI restated an "in-line" rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (up from $46.00) on shares of Exelon in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $45.63.

Exelon Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXC traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $47.26. The stock had a trading volume of 7,496,103 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,228,455. The business's 50 day moving average price is $44.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.81. Exelon Co. has a 1 year low of $34.01 and a 1 year high of $48.11. The company has a market cap of $47.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. Research analysts expect that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This is a positive change from Exelon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Exelon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.