2,150 Shares in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Bought by Foster Group Inc.

Foster Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of DUK. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 4.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,030,865,000 after buying an additional 1,002,157 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 9,164.0% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 979,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $95,031,000 after purchasing an additional 968,723 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,515,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $799,599,000 after purchasing an additional 842,458 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 242.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,044,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $101,348,000 after purchasing an additional 739,112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 273.2% during the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 766,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,635,000 after purchasing an additional 561,000 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of DUK stock opened at $100.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $77.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.15, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.06 and a fifty-two week high of $104.87. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.78.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a dividend of $1.025 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 103.02%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total transaction of $1,027,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 68,657 shares in the company, valued at $7,057,253.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,190,031.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,695 shares of company stock worth $2,750,815 over the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DUK. Barclays lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. 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 research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.75.

Duke Energy Company 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.