Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. Has $680,000 Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 121 shares during the period. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $680,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. PBMares Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $563,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 2.1% during the second quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Castleview Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% during the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Kanawha Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 6,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baron Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,730 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DUK. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays raised their target price 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Trading Down 1.4 %

Duke Energy stock traded down $1.54 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $106.24. 3,617,985 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,417,767. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.07 billion, a PE ratio of 19.53, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $111.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.55. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $90.09 and a twelve month high of $121.25.

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

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.