Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,715 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 738 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,675,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,835,047,000 after acquiring an additional 324,289 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,493,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,111,521,000 after buying an additional 352,320 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,500,000 after buying an additional 6,719,398 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 65.7% in the second 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. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $112.52 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $86.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.47. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $115.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.46. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $86.61 and a 1 year high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results 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 firm 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 company’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. Analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 76.98%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,259,617.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.85.

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.