Norges Bank Takes $479.60 Million Position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 12,741,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $479,597,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Exelon by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 217,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,201,000 after acquiring an additional 14,158 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in Exelon by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,624,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,158,000 after purchasing an additional 279,827 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Exelon by 431.3% during the third quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 395,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,051,000 after buying an additional 321,333 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Exelon by 3.7% in 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 during the period. Finally, Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exelon in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,274,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Exelon Price Performance

Shares of EXC opened at $44.71 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market cap of $45.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.25, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. Exelon Co. has a 12-month low of $34.01 and a 12-month high of $45.20. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.13.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. This is an increase from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on EXC. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Exelon from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI upgraded Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Guggenheim raised shares of Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.13.

Insider Activity at Exelon

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the company’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 owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,134.47. The trade was a 39.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.