Cornerstone Advisors LLC Sells 5,200 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Cornerstone Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,200 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $3,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,675,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,835,047,000 after acquiring an additional 324,289 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,493,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,111,521,000 after acquiring an additional 352,320 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Duke Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,113,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $787,328,000 after buying an additional 42,782 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,471,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $247,672,000 after acquiring an additional 40,243 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,973,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $190,845,000 after acquiring an additional 31,309 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $114.23.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $117.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $111.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.31. The stock has a market cap of $90.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $118.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The company’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.03%.

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.