First Bank & Trust Sells 3,708 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

First Bank & Trust cut its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,708 shares during the quarter. Duke Energy accounts for 0.8% of First Bank & Trust’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $4,236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,488,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,016,846,000 after acquiring an additional 442,302 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,500,000 after acquiring an additional 6,719,398 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,290,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $264,111,000 after acquiring an additional 6,500 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,537,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 155.1% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,138,979 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on DUK. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.08.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $111.78 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $86.34 billion, a PE ratio of 19.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $109.88 and its 200-day moving average is $112.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $90.09 and a 52 week high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.