Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 499,545 Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,264,413 shares of the company’s stock after selling 499,545 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.62% of Exelon worth $235,793,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of EXC. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Exelon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Stephens Consulting LLC grew its holdings in shares of Exelon by 78.1% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 782 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Exelon in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Exelon during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in Exelon by 119.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 513 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI raised Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.13.

Exelon Stock Performance

Shares of EXC stock opened at $45.92 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $42.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.23. The stock has a market cap of $46.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. Exelon Co. has a 12 month low of $34.01 and a 12 month high of $46.28.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. Exelon’s payout ratio is presently 65.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of Exelon stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total value of $59,353.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,271 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

About Exelon

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.