Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Sells 238 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc reduced its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 19,683 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 238 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norden Group LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 141.0% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 6,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $623,000 after buying an additional 3,770 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the first quarter worth about $80,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $592,000. Catalina Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 16,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,590,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK stock opened at $114.08 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $88.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $86.61 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $115.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.57.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at $2,259,617.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.