Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Position Trimmed by Financial Counselors Inc.

Financial Counselors Inc. cut its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 159,070 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 941 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $17,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DUK. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 2.6% in the third 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. lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $922,529,000 after buying an additional 135,665 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 561,784 shares during the period. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter worth about $2,537,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on DUK. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.87.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK opened at $116.10 on Wednesday. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $92.75 and a fifty-two week high of $121.47. The firm has a market cap of $90.21 billion, a PE ratio of 20.33, a P/E/G 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 $114.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.65.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 73.20%.

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.