PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Sold by Tower Research Capital LLC TRC

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lessened its position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 33.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 42,153 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 21,647 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in PPL were worth $1,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Boston Partners raised its position in PPL by 8,266.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,518,141 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $309,060,000 after purchasing an additional 9,404,382 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in PPL during the fourth quarter worth about $228,509,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at about $147,480,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of PPL by 12.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,758,947 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,115,824,000 after acquiring an additional 3,731,412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of PPL by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $891,532,000 after acquiring an additional 3,380,745 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays raised their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PPL has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $35.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $32,843.88. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 45,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,520,460.72. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,292,668.26. The trade was a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,140 shares of company stock worth $173,005 over the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PPL Stock Up 0.1 %

PPL stock opened at $36.24 on Thursday. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $26.79 and a fifty-two week high of $36.66. The company's 50 day moving average price is $34.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.95, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65.

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 firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from PPL's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.08%.

PPL Company Profile

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.

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