Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) Shares Sold by Heartland Advisors Inc.

Heartland Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 299,305 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,192 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Exelon were worth $11,266,000 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 EXC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Exelon by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 127,335,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,792,903,000 after buying an additional 3,064,673 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Exelon by 3.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,169,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,439,862,000 after acquiring an additional 2,156,259 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Exelon by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,945,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,048,823,000 after acquiring an additional 403,542 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Exelon during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $479,597,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Exelon by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,782,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,858,502 shares during the period. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total transaction of $59,353.91. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,134.47. This trade represents a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on EXC shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Exelon from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Guggenheim upgraded Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.13.

Exelon Price Performance

NASDAQ EXC opened at $44.25 on Friday. Exelon Co. has a 1 year low of $34.01 and a 1 year high of $45.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $42.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.09. The company has a market cap of $44.67 billion, a PE ratio of 18.06, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. This is a positive change from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio is 65.31%.

Exelon 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.