Visionary Horizons LLC Has $824,000 Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Visionary Horizons LLC cut its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 15.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,247 shares during the quarter. Duke Energy makes up about 0.6% of Visionary Horizons LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Visionary Horizons LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,852,731,000 after purchasing an additional 779,054 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,097,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,949,857,000 after acquiring an additional 124,863 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,873,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,930,833,000 after acquiring an additional 385,612 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Duke Energy by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $922,529,000 after purchasing an additional 135,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,503,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $916,168,000 after purchasing an additional 357,967 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $116.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $99.21 and a 1 year high of $125.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $118.17 and a 200-day moving average of $114.92.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $8.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 69.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on DUK shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $126.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.81.

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.