Costello Asset Management INC Has $729,000 Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Costello Asset Management INC decreased its position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,565 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC’s holdings in PPL were worth $729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PPL. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in PPL by 195.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the third quarter worth $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in shares of PPL by 1,092.2% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,114 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 139.2% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in PPL by 5,759.3% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,582 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 1,555 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total transaction of $213,510.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $360,513.60. This represents a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $32,843.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,520,460.72. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,794 shares of company stock valued at $661,338. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $33.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $24.79 billion, a PE ratio of 29.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $32.93 and a 200-day moving average of $32.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.07. PPL Co. has a one year low of $25.35 and a one year high of $35.15.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

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

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.