Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Stake Increased by Apollon Wealth Management LLC

Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 22.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 41,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,653 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $4,476,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,500,000 after acquiring an additional 6,719,398 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter worth $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $201,832,000 after buying an additional 1,138,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 13,829.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,125,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,782,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117,526 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $115.01 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $88.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.50. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $90.09 and a twelve month high of $121.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The company has a 50-day moving average of $109.73 and a 200-day moving average of $112.72.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.