Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Purchased by Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 155,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,087 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $15,566,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 9,923.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 769,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,103,000 after acquiring an additional 761,590 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Duke Energy by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,141,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,081,125,000 after purchasing an additional 509,039 shares during the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,874,000. Morningstar Investment Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 96.1% during the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 789,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $76,529,000 after buying an additional 387,038 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BROOKFIELD Corp ON purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $36,278,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $115.14 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.06 and a fifty-two week high of $118.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $112.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $103.66. The company has a market cap of $88.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.93, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.36.

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.