20,464 Shares in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Purchased by Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd.

Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. purchased a new position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 20,464 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $664,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of PPL by 8,266.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,518,141 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $309,060,000 after acquiring an additional 9,404,382 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PPL in the fourth quarter worth about $228,509,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in PPL during the 4th quarter worth about $147,480,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in PPL by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $891,532,000 after purchasing an additional 3,380,745 shares during the period. Finally, Reaves W H & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 182.2% in the 4th quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 3,951,116 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $128,254,000 after purchasing an additional 2,551,070 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup raised PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com raised PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other PPL news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,167 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This trade represents a 2.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL traded down $0.70 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $33.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,327,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,925,750. The company has a market capitalization of $25.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70. The company's fifty day moving average price is $35.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.98. PPL Co. has a 52-week low of $27.24 and a 52-week high of $36.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. PPL's revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from PPL's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL's payout ratio is 80.74%.

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.