Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. Buys Shares of 197,500 Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. bought a new position in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 197,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,434,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 127,335,351 shares of the company's stock worth $4,792,903,000 after buying an additional 3,064,673 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,314,296 shares of the company's stock worth $988,080,000 after buying an additional 368,505 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 5,524,103 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Exelon by 25.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,718,745 shares of the company's stock worth $516,374,000 after buying an additional 2,817,174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Exelon in the 4th quarter worth $479,597,000. 80.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Exelon Stock Performance

EXC traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $46.22. The stock had a trading volume of 6,269,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,272,313. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $44.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.05. Exelon Co. has a 1 year low of $34.01 and a 1 year high of $48.11. The stock has a market cap of $46.66 billion, a PE ratio of 18.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Exelon had a return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 10.68%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. This is a positive change from Exelon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Exelon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EXC. Evercore ISI reiterated an "in-line" rating and issued a $48.00 target price (up from $46.00) on shares of Exelon in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays increased their target price on Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group increased their target price on Exelon from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $45.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelon

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of Exelon stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total transaction of $59,353.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,271 shares of the company's stock, valued at $92,134.47. The trade was a 39.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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.