Northern Trust Corp Purchases 1,577,317 Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC - Free Report) by 16.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,212,263 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,577,317 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.12% of Exelon worth $422,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Exelon in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Stephens Consulting LLC raised its stake in shares of Exelon by 78.1% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 782 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new position in Exelon in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Exelon in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in Exelon by 119.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 942 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total transaction of $59,353.91. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,271 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $92,134.47. This trade represents a 39.18 % 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 0.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group increased their target price on Exelon from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Exelon from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $48.22.

Exelon Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:EXC traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $46.48. The stock had a trading volume of 5,876,748 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,275,081. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.27. The company has a market cap of $46.92 billion, a PE ratio of 18.97, 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.30 billion. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 10.68%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. Analysts predict that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Exelon's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

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.