Baillie Gifford & Co. Sells 6,504 Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Baillie Gifford & Co. reduced its position in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 86,030 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,504 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in Exelon were worth $3,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXC. Creative Planning raised its position in Exelon by 49.1% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 201,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,161,000 after acquiring an additional 66,287 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Exelon by 3.5% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 10,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Exelon in the third quarter valued at about $227,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Exelon by 31.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 2,588 shares during the period. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Exelon in the third quarter valued at about $232,000. 80.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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 approximately $92,134.47. This trade represents a 39.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Exelon Price Performance

NASDAQ:EXC opened at $42.70 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $42.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09. Exelon Co. has a 52 week low of $34.01 and a 52 week high of $43.45. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.00.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Exelon had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 9.47%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Exelon Co. will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. This is an increase from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on EXC shares. Scotiabank increased 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 shares of Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Guggenheim raised shares of Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Exelon from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Exelon has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.38.

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.