NewEdge Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC - Free Report) by 25.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,067 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 7,984 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC's holdings in Exelon were worth $1,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 368,505 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Exelon by 46.9% during the fourth 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. 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 worth $516,374,000 after purchasing an additional 2,817,174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Exelon in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $479,597,000. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelon

In related news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of Exelon 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at $92,134.47. The trade was a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Exelon Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EXC opened at $46.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.87. Exelon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.01 and a fifty-two week high of $48.11. The firm has a market cap of $47.32 billion, a PE ratio of 19.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $44.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.94.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 previous year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Equities research 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. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This is a boost from Exelon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Exelon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price target 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 increased their target price on Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group boosted 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. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Exelon in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $45.63.

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.

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