Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Acquired by Wealthspire Advisors LLC

Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 19.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,605 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,694,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,030,865,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,157 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,468,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $923,907,000 after purchasing an additional 492,011 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,515,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $799,599,000 after buying an additional 842,458 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,918,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $698,923,000 after buying an additional 144,612 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 11.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,205,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $635,952,000 after acquiring an additional 715,069 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on DUK. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.31.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.1 %

DUK stock traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $102.39. 3,497,929 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,033,088. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $95.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.37. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $102.64.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.31 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

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.