Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Buys 738 Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 30,345 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 738 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Exelon were worth $1,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 3.7% during the 3rd 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 raised its position in Exelon by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,945,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,048,823,000 after purchasing an additional 403,542 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Exelon by 18.7% in 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. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Exelon by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,967,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,626,000 after purchasing an additional 160,313 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Exelon by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,446,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $261,402,000 after purchasing an additional 123,466 shares during the period. 80.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Exelon

In related news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total transaction of $59,353.91. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,271 shares of the company’s stock, 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Exelon Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXC opened at $42.70 on Wednesday. Exelon Co. has a 1 year low of $34.01 and a 1 year high of $43.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company’s 50-day moving average is $39.04 and its 200 day moving average is $39.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.56.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) 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 earned $0.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. This is a boost from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Exelon’s payout ratio is currently 62.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on EXC shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank lifted 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. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Exelon from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.38.

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.