Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Sold by Welch Group LLC

Welch Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 191 shares during the quarter. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DUK. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,675,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,835,047,000 after buying an additional 324,289 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $781,500,000 after acquiring an additional 6,719,398 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Duke Energy by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,471,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $247,672,000 after purchasing an additional 40,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Duke Energy by 65.7% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,769,000 after buying an additional 813,744 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on DUK. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.85.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock traded up $0.50 during trading on Monday, hitting $117.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 156,981 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,028,286. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.63. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $86.61 and a 52 week high of $121.25. The company has a market capitalization of $90.90 billion, a PE ratio of 21.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,259,617.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.