Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC Sells 549 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 12.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 549 shares during the period. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 894 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 25,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,691,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on DUK shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. Evercore ISI raised Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.17.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Duke Energy stock traded up $2.31 on Friday, reaching $98.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,212,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,299,082. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $75.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $94.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.32. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $100.39.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The company’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Duke Energy

Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through two segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure (EU&I), and Gas Utilities and Infrastructure (GU&I). The EU&I segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest.