Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC Has $2.58 Million Stock Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 78,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 317 shares during the quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $2,582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 85.7% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 111,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,834,000 after purchasing an additional 51,366 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in PPL by 2.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,260,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,935,000 after purchasing an additional 96,491 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in PPL by 0.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $215,430,000 after acquiring an additional 55,594 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in PPL in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,218,000. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in PPL in the third quarter valued at approximately $916,000. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In other PPL news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total transaction of $213,510.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $360,513.60. This trade represents a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value 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. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 19,794 shares of company stock valued at $661,338. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Price Performance

PPL opened at $33.76 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.14, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.83. PPL Co. has a 12-month low of $25.87 and a 12-month high of $35.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $32.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 9.20%. Equities analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 91.97%.

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.