Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. Sells 157 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. decreased its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 6.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 157 shares during the period. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 14,268.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,663,183 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $202,858,000 after buying an additional 1,651,608 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth $163,819,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 116.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $222,520,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111,581 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,852,731,000 after purchasing an additional 779,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 4,838,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $521,322,000 after buying an additional 625,008 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $127.00 price target (up from $126.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.81.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $115.22 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $118.43 and its 200-day moving average is $114.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.56 billion, a PE ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.37. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.21 and a fifty-two week high of $125.27.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.17. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. The firm had revenue of $8.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 69.32%.

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.