Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $38.06 Million Stock Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,179,304 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 77,071 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.16% of PPL worth $38,056,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of PPL by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,859,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,981,760,000 after acquiring an additional 750,033 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 5.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,459,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,215,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720,941 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 6.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,089,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,160,760,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,122 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of PPL by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,758,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,115,824,000 after buying an additional 3,731,412 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in PPL by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,177,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $566,275,000 after buying an additional 201,417 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.27.

PPL Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $35.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.36 billion, a PE ratio of 29.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. PPL Co. has a one year low of $25.93 and a one year high of $35.97. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $34.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.29.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.2725 dividend. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.08%.

Insider Activity

In other PPL news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total value of $52,627.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,845 shares in the company, valued at $359,186.40. This represents a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $32,843.88. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 45,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,520,460.72. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,140 shares of company stock worth $173,005. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PPL Company Profile

PPL Corporation, an energy company, focuses on providing electricity and natural gas to approximately 3.6 million customers in the United States. It operates through three segments: Kentucky Regulated, Pennsylvania Regulated, and Rhode Island Regulated. The company delivers electricity to customers in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Virginia, and Rhode Island; delivers natural gas to customers in Kentucky and Rhode Island; and generates electricity from power plants in Kentucky.