Prudential Financial Inc. Has $46.23 Million Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 26.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 429,117 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 155,590 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Duke Energy worth $46,233,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 58.1% during the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 10,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 3,737 shares during the period. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,852,731,000 after purchasing an additional 779,054 shares during the last quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guardian Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth $13,533,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.87.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $116.10 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The company has a market capitalization of $90.21 billion, a PE ratio of 20.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.65. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $92.75 and a twelve month high of $121.47.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.20%.

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.