PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Sold by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lessened its position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 19.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 356,753 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 88,174 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp's holdings in PPL were worth $11,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its stake in PPL by 1,092.2% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 84.5% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newton One Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup raised PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group boosted their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $35.27.

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PPL Trading Up 1.0 %

PPL stock traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $36.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 752,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,728,381. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $25.93 and a 1 year high of $36.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. On average, equities research analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. This is a positive change from PPL's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. PPL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other PPL news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $39,857.88. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This represents a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $47,675.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,259 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $376,951.32. This trade represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,140 shares of company stock worth $173,005. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About PPL

PPL Corporation, an energy company, focuses on providing electricity and natural gas to approximately 3.6 million customers in the United States. It operates through three segments: Kentucky Regulated, Pennsylvania Regulated, and Rhode Island Regulated. The company delivers electricity to customers in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Virginia, and Rhode Island; delivers natural gas to customers in Kentucky and Rhode Island; and generates electricity from power plants in Kentucky.