PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Sold by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC reduced its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,206,955 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 53,471 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $136,558,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of PPL by 85.7% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 111,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,834,000 after buying an additional 51,366 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in PPL by 0.9% during the 3rd 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. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in PPL in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,218,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in PPL in the 3rd quarter valued at about $916,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in PPL by 30.5% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 67,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,229,000 after purchasing an additional 15,761 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $32,843.88. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 45,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,520,460.72. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $47,675.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,951.32. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,794 shares of company stock worth $661,338. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Price Performance

PPL stock opened at $33.59 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $32.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.27. 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 stock has a market cap of $24.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.99, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.83. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.35 and a fifty-two week high of $35.15.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.42. PPL had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 91.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on PPL in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.00.

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.