Hyman Charles D Sells 1,446 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Hyman Charles D trimmed its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 170,889 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,446 shares during the quarter. Hyman Charles D’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $17,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DUK. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $500,000. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $385,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 84,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,163,000 after acquiring an additional 3,189 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $396,000. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. bought a new position in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $428,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the completion of 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE:DUK traded up $0.64 on Monday, reaching $113.00. 3,038,857 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,962,049. The firm has a market cap of $87.21 billion, a PE ratio of 28.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.80. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $116.67.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on DUK shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays increased their target price on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.85.

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.