MML Investors Services LLC Boosts Stock Position in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG - Free Report) by 51.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,459 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 30,349 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in PG&E were worth $1,805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in PG&E by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 254,358,968 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,132,964,000 after buying an additional 6,151,233 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in PG&E by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,988,553 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,046,462,000 after purchasing an additional 2,151,494 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of PG&E by 70.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 46,805,768 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $944,540,000 after buying an additional 19,317,171 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of PG&E in the fourth quarter worth $591,625,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in shares of PG&E by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 17,385,629 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $350,842,000 after acquiring an additional 82,705 shares during the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on PCG. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of PG&E from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on PG&E from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of PG&E in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of PG&E from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of PG&E in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $21.13.

PG&E Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of PCG stock traded up $0.26 on Friday, reaching $16.93. 12,963,656 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,503,067. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $16.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.30 billion, a PE ratio of 14.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. PG&E Co. has a 52 week low of $14.99 and a 52 week high of $21.72.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $5.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.23 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that PG&E Co. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.025 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. PG&E's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arno Lockheart Harris bought 6,389 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.66 per share, for a total transaction of $100,051.74. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $232,770.24. The trade was a 75.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,521 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.37, for a total value of $532,368.77. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 183,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,006,104.95. The trade was a 15.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

PG&E Profile

PG&E Corp. operates as a holding company, which engages in generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity and natural gas to customers. It specializes in energy, utility, power, gas, electricity, solar and sustainability. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Oakland, CA.