Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Sells 416 Shares of Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lessened its stake in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 1.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 25,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 416 shares during the quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $3,045,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DUK. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 17,880.0% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,249,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,250,133,000 after buying an additional 10,192,503 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter worth $702,351,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 88.1% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,861,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $592,934,000 after buying an additional 2,276,948 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,562,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,094,327,000 after purchasing an additional 1,676,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 359.1% in the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,132,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,145,000 after purchasing an additional 885,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total transaction of $832,542.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,768,397.72. This represents a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total transaction of $248,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,438,843.04. This represents a 9.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $123.58 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.44. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $122.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $119.61. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $105.20 and a 12 month high of $127.85.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.04). Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The firm had revenue of $7.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $1.065 per share. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on DUK shares. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $127.00 price objective (up previously from $124.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Scotiabank set a $137.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $127.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Duke Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $141.00 to $134.00 in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $132.25.

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.