Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Purchases 5,382 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 185,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,382 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $18,567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,675,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,835,047,000 after acquiring an additional 324,289 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,493,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,111,521,000 after purchasing an additional 352,320 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Duke Energy by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,113,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $787,328,000 after buying an additional 42,782 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Duke Energy by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,351,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $228,193,000 after purchasing an additional 84,227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.6% during the first quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,973,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $190,845,000 after purchasing an additional 31,309 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Duke Energy stock opened at $117.31 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $111.20 and its 200 day moving average is $102.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $83.06 and a 1-year high of $118.18.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The business’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS 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 is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on DUK shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.92.

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.