Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. Sells 2,144 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lessened its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 51.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,144 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $200,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,675,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,835,047,000 after purchasing an additional 324,289 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,493,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,111,521,000 after buying an additional 352,320 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Duke Energy by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,471,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $247,672,000 after buying an additional 40,243 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 65.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $205,769,000 after acquiring an additional 813,744 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% in the first quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,973,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $190,845,000 after acquiring an additional 31,309 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DUK. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,259,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of DUK stock opened at $116.66 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $113.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.08. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $83.06 and a 52-week high of $118.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.03 billion, a PE ratio of 29.31, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81.

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

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. 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.