6,694 Shares in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) Bought by 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC

3Chopt Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $816,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DUK. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 95.2% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 134,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,063,000 after buying an additional 65,605 shares in the last quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 6.0% in the first quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 51,333 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,261,000 after buying an additional 2,927 shares in the last quarter. ZynergyRetirementPlanningLLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the first quarter valued at $106,000. Old North State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 5.0% in the first quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,253,000 after buying an additional 1,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 46.2% in the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 11,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,394,000 after buying an additional 3,611 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on DUK. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.94.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $116.93 on Friday. Duke Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $99.21 and a 52-week high of $125.27. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $117.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $90.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.37.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.17. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.40% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The business had revenue of $8.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 69.32%.

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.