Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Purchases New Shares in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 9,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $374,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Exelon in the 3rd quarter valued at $253,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Exelon by 27.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 15,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $613,000 after buying an additional 3,255 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Exelon by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 170,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,908,000 after buying an additional 2,505 shares during the period. Addis & Hill Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Exelon in the 3rd quarter valued at $401,000. Finally, Affinity Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Exelon by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $795,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. 80.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on EXC shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim raised Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI raised Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total value of $59,353.91. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Exelon Stock Performance

EXC stock opened at $44.20 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $40.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.33. 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 firm has a market cap of $44.43 billion, a PE ratio of 18.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.56. Exelon Co. has a 1-year low of $34.01 and a 1-year high of $44.46.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last posted its earnings results 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This is a positive change from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. Exelon’s payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

Exelon 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.