Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Sold by MBA Advisors LLC

MBA Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,864 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 145 shares during the quarter. MBA Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $524,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 43,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,026,000 after purchasing an additional 1,342 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 1.2% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 19,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,237,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 29.4% in the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 7,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,597 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 85.0% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 172,297 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,866,000 after buying an additional 79,139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA raised its stake in Duke Energy by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 4,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $500,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp cut Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.08.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.4 %

DUK stock opened at $115.01 on Monday. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.09 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25. The stock has a market cap of $88.85 billion, a PE ratio of 21.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $109.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.84%.

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.