Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. cut its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 192 shares during the quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kessler Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy in the first quarter valued at about $5,941,000. Nilsine Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 6,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $659,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 8,482 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $820,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Bay Rivers Group increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 12.9% during the 1st quarter. Bay Rivers Group now owns 2,404 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFG Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 272.7% during the 1st quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 27,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,702,000 after purchasing an additional 20,444 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of DUK traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $98.26. The company had a trading volume of 2,488,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,968,449. The stock has a market cap of $75.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.94. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.06 and a fifty-two week high of $100.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.