Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Reduces Stake in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lowered its holdings in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 8.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,926,080 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 531,989 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.80% of PPL worth $213,991,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in PPL by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,677,941 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $572,300,000 after buying an additional 500,058 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in PPL by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 79,088 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,824,000 after buying an additional 11,782 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in PPL by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,975,310 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $107,438,000 after buying an additional 250,564 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in PPL by 45.0% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 30,603 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,105,000 after buying an additional 9,503 shares during the period. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in PPL in the 1st quarter worth approximately $992,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Transactions at PPL

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total transaction of $61,809.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 45,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,591,065.30. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

PPL Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $35.36 on Wednesday. PPL Corporation has a 52-week low of $27.98 and a 52-week high of $36.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $34.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.81.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 previous year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. PPL's payout ratio is 80.74%.

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.

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