Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) Shares Sold by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. cut its stake in Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR - Free Report) by 58.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,986 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 37,622 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.'s holdings in Entergy were worth $2,731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Entergy by 64.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,562,369 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $422,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,787,977 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of Entergy by 2,786.9% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 492,613 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $45,567,000 after purchasing an additional 475,549 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Entergy by 220.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 685,186 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $69,334,000 after purchasing an additional 471,291 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Entergy by 16.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,506,022 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $231,807,000 after purchasing an additional 352,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Entergy by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,787,911 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $165,382,000 after buying an additional 259,142 shares during the period. 88.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Entergy news, EVP Marcus V. Brown sold 8,500 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.84, for a total value of $874,140.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,911 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,019,247.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kimberly Cook-Nelson sold 2,000 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.35, for a total transaction of $200,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,037 shares in the company, valued at $1,609,312.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Marcus V. Brown sold 8,500 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.84, for a total transaction of $874,140.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,911 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,019,247.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,226,685. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Entergy Stock Up 0.6 %

ETR stock traded up $0.68 during trading on Monday, hitting $107.45. 2,806,241 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,396,200. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.70, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. Entergy Co. has a 1 year low of $87.10 and a 1 year high of $109.53.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.52. The company had revenue of $2.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.27 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 19.41% and a return on equity of 10.54%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Entergy Co. will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 2nd will be issued a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 1st. Entergy's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Entergy from $111.00 to $104.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $117.00 target price on shares of Entergy in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Entergy from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Entergy from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Entergy currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $109.45.

Entergy Profile

Entergy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production and retail distribution of electricity in the United States. It generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electric power in portions of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, including the City of New Orleans; and distributes natural gas.