Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) PT Lowered to $98.00

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its target price decreased by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $103.00 to $98.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 3.07% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on DUK. Bank of America boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Mizuho boosted 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 equities research 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.33.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock traded up $1.26 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $101.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 200,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,948,501. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $100.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.27. Duke Energy has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $104.87. The company has a market cap of $78.03 billion, a PE ratio of 25.40, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.45. 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 announced 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. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The business had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Duke Energy will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duke Energy news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,190,031.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Duke Energy news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,057,253.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 have sold a total of 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815 over the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duke Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% 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.