Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Stock Position Raised by Global Retirement Partners LLC

Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,920 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $3,680,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 3,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO lifted its position in Duke Energy by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 2,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on DUK. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

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

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $120.58 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $85.79 and a 1 year high of $120.81. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.06 billion, a PE ratio of 30.30, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.84 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.