QRG Capital Management Inc. Purchases 12,966 Shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 295,443 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,966 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Exelon were worth $11,120,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Exelon by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 217,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,201,000 after purchasing an additional 14,158 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $61,158,000 after buying an additional 279,827 shares during the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC grew its holdings 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Exelon by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,446,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $261,402,000 after buying an additional 123,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,156,259 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction of $59,353.91. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Exelon Price Performance

Exelon stock opened at $43.84 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.89, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.56. Exelon Co. has a one year low of $34.01 and a one year high of $44.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $39.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.27.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 EPS 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This is a positive change from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Exelon’s dividend payout ratio is 65.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EXC. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price 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. Guggenheim raised Exelon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.13.

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.