Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Has $2.96 Million Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 8.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,223 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 2.1% during the second quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 41.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $611,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Waddell & Associates LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 2.7% during 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 during the period. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.9% in the second quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 2,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on DUK shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $114.23.

Insider Transactions 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 stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,259,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $116.72 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The company has a market capitalization of $90.08 billion, a PE ratio of 29.33, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $111.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.49. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $118.31.

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

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.