Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Invests $287,000 in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,958 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $287,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of PPL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,859,527 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,981,760,000 after acquiring an additional 750,033 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 36,829,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,195,484,000 after acquiring an additional 2,070,499 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $891,532,000 after acquiring an additional 3,380,745 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in PPL by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,677,941 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $572,300,000 after buying an additional 500,058 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in PPL by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,672,428 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $411,347,000 after buying an additional 1,371,000 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPL Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of PPL stock traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $35.15. The company had a trading volume of 9,570,340 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,345,826. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50 day moving average of $34.23 and a 200 day moving average of $34.27. PPL Corporation has a 52-week low of $28.31 and a 52-week 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 11.49%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th were paid a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. PPL's payout ratio is 80.74%.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In related news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total value of $61,809.66. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 45,485 shares in the company, valued at $1,591,065.30. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on PPL. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays raised PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group boosted their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $36.70.

PPL 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.