Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 558,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,458 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned about 0.07% of Duke Energy worth $54,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,030,865,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,157 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 9,164.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 979,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $95,031,000 after purchasing an additional 968,723 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 242.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,044,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $101,348,000 after buying an additional 739,112 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 11.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,205,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $635,952,000 after buying an additional 715,069 shares during the period. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 561,000 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on DUK shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Mizuho increased their price target on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE:DUK traded up $0.95 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $100.26. 4,338,461 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,636,808. The firm has a market cap of $77.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.02. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $100.56.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The company had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.