Farther Finance Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 12,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Knuff & Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 1,464 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,385,000 after acquiring an additional 946 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 35,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,852,000 after buying an additional 7,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 51,252 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,522,000 after buying an additional 1,808 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DUK. Guggenheim upped their target price on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank upped their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.93.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.4 %

DUK stock opened at $118.25 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $91.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.40. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $92.75 and a 52 week high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.20%.

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.