Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Sells 868 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lessened its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 167,140 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 868 shares during the period. Duke Energy makes up approximately 1.3% of Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $18,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,852,731,000 after purchasing an additional 779,054 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,488,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,016,846,000 after buying an additional 442,302 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $922,529,000 after buying an additional 135,665 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $269,368,000 after buying an additional 561,784 shares during the period. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the third quarter worth about $2,537,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK stock opened at $119.01 on Monday. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $92.75 and a fifty-two week high of $121.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.84, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.65.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.87.

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.