Merit Financial Group LLC Has $919,000 Stock Position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC - Free Report) by 266.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,935 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 14,497 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Exelon were worth $919,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Exelon during the fourth quarter worth about $479,597,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Exelon by 37.2% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,618,055 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,039,545,000 after acquiring an additional 7,483,873 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Exelon by 46.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,306,652 shares of the company's stock worth $651,422,000 after acquiring an additional 5,524,103 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Exelon by 43.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,846,030 shares of the company's stock worth $483,525,000 after purchasing an additional 3,878,687 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Exelon by 109.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,884,282 shares of the company's stock worth $238,608,000 after purchasing an additional 3,068,309 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on EXC. Guggenheim increased their target price on Exelon from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp cut shares of Exelon from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $39.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Exelon from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $48.00 target price (up from $46.00) on shares of Exelon in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Exelon from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Exelon has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $47.40.

Exelon Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ EXC traded down $0.42 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $42.20. The company had a trading volume of 764,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,368,866. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The firm's 50 day moving average is $45.04 and its 200-day moving average is $42.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.39. Exelon Co. has a 1-year low of $34.01 and a 1-year high of $48.11.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.30 billion. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 10.68%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Exelon's dividend payout ratio is presently 59.48%.

Exelon Company 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.