Jennison Associates LLC Acquires 1,061,533 Shares of Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ:EXC)

Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ:EXC - Free Report) by 58.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,868,449 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,061,533 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.28% of Exelon worth $132,178,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Exelon by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 127,335,351 shares of the company's stock worth $4,792,903,000 after acquiring an additional 3,064,673 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Exelon by 37.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,618,055 shares of the company's stock worth $1,039,545,000 after acquiring an additional 7,483,873 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Exelon by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,314,296 shares of the company's stock worth $988,080,000 after acquiring an additional 368,505 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Exelon by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 24,662,037 shares of the company's stock worth $928,277,000 after purchasing an additional 653,627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in Exelon by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,306,652 shares of the company's stock worth $651,422,000 after purchasing an additional 5,524,103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.92% of the company's stock.

Exelon Stock Performance

Exelon stock traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $43.40. 5,669,651 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,052,819. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $43.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market cap of $43.81 billion, a PE ratio of 16.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.39. Exelon Corporation has a one year low of $35.84 and a one year high of $48.11.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.06. Exelon had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 11.44%. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Exelon Corporation will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. Exelon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on EXC shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Exelon from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Exelon from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Exelon from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Exelon from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Exelon from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $47.20.

About Exelon

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.