GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC Has $126,000 Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 31.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $126,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 69.6% in the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $108.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at $2,259,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.2 %

Duke Energy stock traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $113.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,976,415 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,960,939. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.78. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $116.67. The company has a market capitalization of $87.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 105.03%.

Duke Energy Company 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.