Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Sells 9,606 Shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. decreased its position in shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 509,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,606 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.24% of Entergy worth $51,572,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Entergy by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,038,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,408,582,000 after purchasing an additional 104,803 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Entergy by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,122,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,415,313,000 after buying an additional 908,932 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Entergy by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,664,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $502,556,000 after acquiring an additional 497,482 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Entergy by 64.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,562,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $422,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,787,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Entergy by 1.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,506,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $416,883,000 after purchasing an additional 48,047 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ETR. Barclays cut their price target on Entergy from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $117.00 target price on shares of Entergy in a report on Monday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.78.

Entergy Trading Up 0.5 %

ETR opened at $103.75 on Friday. Entergy Co. has a twelve month low of $87.10 and a twelve month high of $109.85. The firm has a market cap of $22.12 billion, a PE ratio of 9.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $102.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.01.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.52. The firm had revenue of $2.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.27 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.54% and a net margin of 19.41%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Entergy Co. will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 2nd will be issued a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 1st. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Entergy news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.23, for a total transaction of $151,845.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,433.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Entergy news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.23, for a total transaction of $151,845.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,433.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marcus V. Brown sold 8,500 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.84, for a total transaction of $874,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,911 shares in the company, valued at $1,019,247.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,000 shares of company stock worth $1,226,685 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

About Entergy

Entergy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production and retail distribution of electricity in the United States. It generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electric power in portions of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, including the City of New Orleans; and distributes natural gas.