Moors & Cabot Inc. Sells 1,600 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Moors & Cabot Inc. decreased its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $5,701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 352,320 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 6,719,398 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,471,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $247,672,000 after buying an additional 40,243 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,290,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $264,111,000 after buying an additional 6,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 65.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,769,000 after acquiring an additional 813,744 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.4 %

DUK stock traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $113.17. The company had a trading volume of 513,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,066,444. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $88.73 and a 52 week high of $121.25. The stock has a market cap of $87.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.88, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $115.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.53.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly 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). Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DUK. KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays increased their price target 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. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.85.

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.