Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,796 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,452 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Exelon were worth $256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EXC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Exelon by 109.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,884,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,608,000 after purchasing an additional 3,068,309 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Exelon by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,169,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,439,862,000 after buying an additional 2,156,259 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Exelon by 418.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,501,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,152,000 after buying an additional 2,018,604 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Exelon by 18.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,782,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,782,000 after acquiring an additional 1,858,502 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Exelon by 212.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,903,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,647,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,753 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Exelon

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total value of $59,353.91. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,134.47. The trade was a 39.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Exelon Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ EXC opened at $43.11 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.60, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Exelon Co. has a one year low of $34.01 and a one year high of $45.19. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.49.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Exelon had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 9.52%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. This is a positive change from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Exelon’s payout ratio is 65.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EXC. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Guggenheim raised shares of Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Exelon currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.13.

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.