Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Acquired by Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 22.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,011 shares during the period. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,030,865,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,157 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,468,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $923,907,000 after acquiring an additional 492,011 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,515,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $799,599,000 after acquiring an additional 842,458 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,918,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $698,923,000 after acquiring an additional 144,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 11.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,205,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $635,952,000 after acquiring an additional 715,069 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total transaction of $1,027,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 68,657 shares in the company, valued at $7,057,253.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total transaction of $1,027,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 68,657 shares in the company, valued at $7,057,253.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total value of $173,415.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4 shares in the company, valued at approximately $409.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,695 shares of company stock worth $2,750,815 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on DUK shares. Scotiabank cut their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.85.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $103.44 on Thursday. 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 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $104.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.83 billion, a PE ratio of 25.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $98.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.45.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $1.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 103.02%.

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.