GLOBALT Investments LLC GA Sells 2,084 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

GLOBALT Investments LLC GA reduced its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 61,640 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,084 shares during the quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $7,107,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 9.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 108,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,520,000 after acquiring an additional 9,334 shares during the period. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the second quarter valued at $2,888,000. PrairieView Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the second quarter valued at $501,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 362.7% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 27,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,664,000 after buying an additional 21,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 158.9% in the third quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 8,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $978,000 after buying an additional 5,206 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on DUK. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.85.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:DUK opened at $112.17 on Monday. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $88.27 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $115.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.33.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.84%.

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.