Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Boosts Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 61,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $5,992,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Command Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Chemung Canal Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 14,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Verum Partners LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 3,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 27,481 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,667,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DUK. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.62.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:DUK traded down $0.93 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $98.03. The stock had a trading volume of 288,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,966,725. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.63. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $100.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market cap of $75.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Company Profile

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.