Bleakley Financial Group LLC Decreases Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC reduced its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,704 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 532 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 435,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,084,000 after buying an additional 13,406 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 57.8% in the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 27,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,618,000 after acquiring an additional 9,917 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 63.8% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 44,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,324,000 after acquiring an additional 17,420 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 108,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,520,000 after purchasing an additional 9,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $2,888,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.85.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $120.76 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $85.79 and a one year high of $120.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.34, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.67. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 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 firm had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 105.03%.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at $2,259,617.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Profile

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.