California State Teachers Retirement System Sells 28,926 Shares of Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its position in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 901,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 28,926 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $118,068,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,258,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,172,709,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957,592 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 56.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,662,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $312,067,000 after buying an additional 965,808 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,236,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $965,446,000 after buying an additional 954,907 shares in the last quarter. Milford Funds Ltd. purchased a new position in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $97,905,000. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 83.3% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 1,711,445 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $200,598,000 after acquiring an additional 777,878 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $137.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Duke Energy from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $139.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.62.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $129.20 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.73 billion, a PE ratio of 19.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $125.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $126.10. Duke Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $113.89 and a twelve month high of $134.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.06. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.49% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The company had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.76 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.72 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $1.085 per share. This represents a $4.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 65.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Harry K. Sideris sold 20,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.37, for a total transaction of $2,487,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 96,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,952,205.74. The trade was a 17.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Louis E. Renjel sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.15, for a total value of $438,025.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,680,087.25. This represents a 14.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Profile

Duke Energy Corporation is a U.S.-based electric power holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company’s core business is the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Duke Energy operates a mix of regulated electric utilities and non-regulated energy businesses, providing essential energy infrastructure and services across multiple states.

Its operating activities include owning and operating generation assets across a portfolio that encompasses nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and an expanding array of renewable resources, as well as battery storage and grid modernization projects.