Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC cut its position in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 0.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 589,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 699 shares during the quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC owned about 0.08% of Duke Energy worth $69,585,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DUK. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $728,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $226,000. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 16,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,060,000 after purchasing an additional 1,352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 40.9% in the 1st quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 3,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $127.00 price target (up previously from $124.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $127.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.50.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK opened at $123.71 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $122.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.57. Duke Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $105.20 and a 52-week high of $127.85.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.04). Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The company had revenue of $7.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.18 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $1.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 69.27%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total transaction of $248,760.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,438,843.04. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total value of $832,542.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,768,397.72. The trade was a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Profile

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.