Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Purchased by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 578,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,295 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned about 0.07% of Duke Energy worth $66,671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DUK. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. NovaPoint Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC now owns 8,541 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $985,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its stake in Duke Energy by 7.5% in the third quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 90,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,395,000 after purchasing an additional 6,309 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 43.0% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 20,864 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,406,000 after buying an additional 6,278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DUK shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.85.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,259,617.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $120.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $85.79 and a 1-year high of $120.85. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $115.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.74. The company has a market capitalization of $93.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.34, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.03%.

Duke Energy 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.