Virtu Financial LLC Sells 13,664 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Virtu Financial LLC cut its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 78.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,791 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 13,664 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new position in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 155.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,138,979 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 116.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $222,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $269,368,000 after purchasing an additional 561,784 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Scotiabank increased their price objective 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.87.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of DUK opened at $117.10 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $90.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $114.79 and a 200 day moving average of $113.68.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS 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, research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.20%.

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.