Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Sells 630 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 16,523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 630 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in Duke Energy by 2.7% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 155,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,566,000 after purchasing an additional 4,087 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance lifted its position in Duke Energy by 5.8% during the second quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 23,396 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275 shares during the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its position in Duke Energy by 2.8% during the second quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 15,484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,552,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. L & S Advisors Inc lifted its position in Duke Energy by 8.2% during the second quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 24,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,429,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,958,000 after acquiring an additional 2,223 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, August 29th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.36.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $115.14 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $112.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $103.66. The company has a market cap of $88.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.93, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $118.31.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 105.03%.

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.