PPL Corporation $PPL Shares Sold by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. trimmed its position in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,473,175 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 70,258 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.61% of PPL worth $161,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 255,608 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,296,000 after purchasing an additional 13,117 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 1,418.1% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,909,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $105,057,000 after purchasing an additional 2,717,726 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 10,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 15,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 104.2% during the 1st quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 56,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,027,000 after purchasing an additional 28,641 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 2,165 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.86, for a total transaction of $77,636.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 45,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,633,781.60. This represents a 4.54% 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. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PPL shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $36.70.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $36.53 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $27.01 billion, a PE ratio of 27.26, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $34.98 and a 200 day moving average of $34.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.59. PPL Corporation has a one year low of $30.91 and a one year high of $37.31.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.05). PPL had a return on equity of 8.81% and a net margin of 11.22%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. PPL’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About PPL

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.