Cohen & Steers Inc. Sells 517,202 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Cohen & Steers Inc. lowered its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 16.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,534,730 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 517,202 shares during the quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $273,092,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bcwm LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $9,815,000. Bailard Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 31,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,439,000 after purchasing an additional 3,139 shares during the period. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 52,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,705 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 35,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,852,000 after purchasing an additional 7,319 shares during the period. Finally, First Business Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $384,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. 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 stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.87.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK stock opened at $118.81 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $92.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.81, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $92.75 and a 1 year high of $125.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $116.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.89.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results 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, equities analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

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.