Costello Asset Management INC Sells 201 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Costello Asset Management INC cut its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 201 shares during the quarter. Costello Asset Management INC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $768,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.4% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,211 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,408,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 2.7% during the third quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 18,989 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,189,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the period. Field & Main Bank grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 20.9% in the third quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 7,720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $890,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.2% in the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 85,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,804,000 after purchasing an additional 989 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Stock Up 1.9 %

DUK stock opened at $113.23 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $86.61 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $87.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.47.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 76.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.85.

About Duke Energy

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.