Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Stock Holdings Lifted by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,203,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,735 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.16% of Duke Energy worth $116,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,675,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,835,047,000 after buying an additional 324,289 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Duke Energy by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,493,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,111,521,000 after purchasing an additional 352,320 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Duke Energy by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,515,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $799,599,000 after purchasing an additional 842,458 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Duke Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,113,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $787,328,000 after purchasing an additional 42,782 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Duke Energy by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,351,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $228,193,000 after purchasing an additional 84,227 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.58.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK traded up $0.75 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $108.78. 745,679 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,881,341. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The company’s 50 day moving average is $102.79 and its 200 day moving average is $98.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $110.02.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The business had revenue of $7.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.20 EPS. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.84%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 103.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other news, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total value of $173,415.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4 shares in the company, valued at approximately $409.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total value of $173,415.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4 shares in the company, valued at approximately $409.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total transaction of $1,027,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 68,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,057,253.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.