Martingale Asset Management L P Reduces Stock Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Martingale Asset Management L P lessened its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 44.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,749 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 41,640 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in PPL were worth $1,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PPL. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in PPL by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 496,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,719,000 after purchasing an additional 39,513 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 2.3% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,260,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,935,000 after acquiring an additional 96,491 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of PPL by 10.0% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,067,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,153,000 after acquiring an additional 188,160 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 0.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $215,430,000 after acquiring an additional 55,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in PPL in the third quarter valued at about $1,218,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PPL. Bank of America upped their target price on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.50.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $34.93 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The business has a 50 day moving average of $33.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.88. The company has a market cap of $25.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.19, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.81. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $25.35 and a 52 week high of $35.15.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 91.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In related news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total value of $314,680.35. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,434 shares in the company, valued at $427,107.90. This trade represents a 42.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

PPL 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.