Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Purchased by Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 38.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,701 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Duke Energy by 4.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,030,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,157 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 9,164.0% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 979,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $95,031,000 after acquiring an additional 968,723 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Duke Energy by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,515,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $799,599,000 after acquiring an additional 842,458 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 242.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,044,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $101,348,000 after purchasing an additional 739,112 shares during the period. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 273.2% during the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 766,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,635,000 after purchasing an additional 561,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total transaction of $173,415.45. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $409.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 26,695 shares of company stock worth $2,750,815. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on DUK. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Barclays increased their target price on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.33.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock traded down $0.36 during trading on Friday, hitting $100.23. 3,898,744 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,576,126. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $101.37 and its 200 day moving average is $97.45. The stock has a market cap of $77.35 billion, a PE ratio of 25.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $104.87.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $7.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.31 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a dividend of $1.025 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 103.02%.

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.