Centiva Capital LP Sells 15,966 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Centiva Capital LP lowered its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 53.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,681 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 15,966 shares during the quarter. Centiva Capital LP's holdings in PPL were worth $444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. BROOKFIELD Corp ON bought a new stake in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter worth approximately $23,453,000. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 38,113 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,237,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter worth about $174,000. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. bought a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter worth about $1,850,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of PPL by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 14,476 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 698 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PPL Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of PPL stock traded up $0.26 on Friday, reaching $34.68. 1,371,483 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,920,018. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The business's 50 day moving average price is $35.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.99. The company has a market capitalization of $25.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.66, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70. PPL Co. has a twelve month low of $27.24 and a twelve month high of $36.70.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PPL. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com upgraded PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPL has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In related news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,167 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,292,668.26. The trade was a 2.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.