Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 15.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,635 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO raised its position in Duke Energy by 3.3% in the first quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 3,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Breakwater Capital Group lifted its position in Duke Energy by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 2,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $771,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Chemung Canal Trust Co. grew its position in Duke Energy by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 14,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verum Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 3,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the firm’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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,657 shares in the company, valued at $7,057,253.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America raised 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. Barclays boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.33.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $99.84 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $104.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market cap of $77.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $101.46 and a 200-day moving average of $97.50.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a $1.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.11%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 103.02%.

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.