ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC Has $447,000 Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 12.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,879 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 527 shares during the quarter. ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 7,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $823,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. BCS Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter worth $203,000. LexAurum Advisors LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $216,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 98,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,320,000 after buying an additional 1,441 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 158.9% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 8,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $978,000 after buying an additional 5,206 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,259,617.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE DUK traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $119.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 515,470 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,040,214. The company has a market capitalization of $92.55 billion, a PE ratio of 30.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $85.79 and a 52 week high of $120.81. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 105.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.85.

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.