Park National Corp OH Has $1.61 Million Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Park National Corp OH cut its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 741 shares during the quarter. Park National Corp OH’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 22.5% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 167,575 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,850,000 after purchasing an additional 30,816 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 11.4% during the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 78,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,932,000 after acquiring an additional 8,060 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 24.6% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,267,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $200,112,000 after purchasing an additional 447,724 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 340.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 305,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,038,000 after purchasing an additional 235,866 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 11.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,205,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $635,952,000 after buying an additional 715,069 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of DUK opened at $100.06 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.22 billion, a PE ratio of 25.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $104.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The company had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a $1.025 dividend. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 103.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on DUK shares. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.75.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Duke Energy news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total transaction of $173,415.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4 shares in the company, valued at $409.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,695 shares of company stock worth $2,750,815 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.