Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Purchased by Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 161,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,263 shares during the quarter. Duke Energy makes up about 1.3% of Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $15,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter valued at $259,000. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.4% during the first quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 12,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,217,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 12.1% during the first quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $177,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 41.3% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 8,092 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $783,000 after acquiring an additional 2,367 shares during the period. Finally, Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 16.8% during the first quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 17,750 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,717,000 after acquiring an additional 2,552 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4 shares in the company, valued at $409.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on DUK shares. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.33.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.3 %

Duke Energy stock traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $99.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 697,248 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,927,000. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.50. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $83.06 and a 52-week high of $104.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $101.37 and its 200 day moving average is $97.44. The company has a market cap of $76.90 billion, a PE ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The business had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a $1.025 dividend. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.