Natixis Trims Stock Holdings in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Natixis lowered its position in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC - Free Report) by 93.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,182 shares of the company's stock after selling 575,819 shares during the quarter. Natixis' holdings in Exelon were worth $1,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Exelon during the fourth quarter worth about $479,597,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 5,524,103 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Exelon by 109.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,884,282 shares of the company's stock valued at $238,608,000 after buying an additional 3,068,309 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 3,064,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Exelon by 25.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,718,745 shares of the company's stock worth $516,374,000 after acquiring an additional 2,817,174 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.92% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 of the company's stock, valued at $92,134.47. This trade represents a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "in-line" rating and issued a $48.00 price target (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Exelon in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Exelon from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. 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 report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Exelon in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $45.63.

Exelon Price Performance

NASDAQ EXC opened at $47.37 on Wednesday. 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 1-year low of $34.01 and a 1-year high of $48.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.33, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.39. The business's fifty day moving average price is $44.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.90.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 boost from Exelon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Exelon's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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