Aprio Wealth Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 62.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,782 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,448 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 167,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,045,000 after purchasing an additional 10,246 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 5,151 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders increased its stake in Duke Energy by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 15,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,680,000 after buying an additional 1,222 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 10,759 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,159,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 4,312 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $465,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on DUK shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp cut shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE DUK opened at $106.29 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $82.11 billion, a PE ratio of 19.54, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $90.09 and a 12 month high of $121.25. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $110.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $111.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.84%.

Duke Energy Company 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.