Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Grows Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 58.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,737 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,089,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth $1,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Duke Energy by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,852,731,000 after purchasing an additional 779,054 shares during the last quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the period. Guardian Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $13,533,000. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 83.9% in the 4th quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 17,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,930,000 after purchasing an additional 8,171 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on DUK. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.87.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of DUK stock opened at $117.67 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $91.43 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $113.71. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $92.75 and a 1 year high of $121.47.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. Research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.20%.

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.