WealthTrust Axiom LLC Has $1.70 Million Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

WealthTrust Axiom LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 103 shares during the period. WealthTrust Axiom LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $163,819,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Duke Energy by 155.1% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,979 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 116.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $222,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,581 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Duke Energy by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,852,731,000 after buying an additional 779,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $269,368,000 after buying an additional 561,784 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $118.81 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $116.98 and its 200-day moving average is $113.90. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $92.75 and a 1 year high of $125.27. The company has a market capitalization of $92.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.87.

About Duke Energy

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.