PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. reduced its position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL – Get Rating) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 189,159 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,489 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PPL were worth $4,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 39.8% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 9,358,289 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $253,891,000 after purchasing an additional 2,662,870 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in PPL by 1,052.8% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,890,768 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $78,426,000 after purchasing an additional 2,640,002 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new position in PPL during the 3rd quarter worth $57,798,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in PPL by 299.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,665,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,833,000 after buying an additional 1,998,852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in PPL by 4.8% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,759,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,229,596,000 after buying an additional 1,971,238 shares during the last quarter. 70.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on PPL. Guggenheim cut their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, October 24th. StockNews.com began coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, October 12th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded PPL from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $32.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on PPL to $34.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 14th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of PPL from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPL currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.00.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $30.80 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $28.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.16. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $23.47 and a 52 week high of $31.74. The stock has a market cap of $22.68 billion, a PE ratio of 32.42 and a beta of 0.78.

PPL (NYSE:PPL – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.41. The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.66 billion. PPL had a net margin of 9.86% and a return on equity of 7.19%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 9th were paid a $0.225 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 8th. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPL news, insider David J. Bonenberger sold 29,080 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $872,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,038,180. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About PPL

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PPL Corporation, a utility holding company, delivers electricity and natural gas in the United States and the United Kingdom. The company operates through two segments: Kentucky Regulated and Pennsylvania Regulated. It serves approximately 429,000 electric and 333,000 natural gas customers in Louisville and adjacent areas in Kentucky; 538,000 electric customers in central, southeastern, and western Kentucky; and 28,000 electric customers in five counties in southwestern Virginia.