Wealthspire Advisors LLC Has $2.60 Million Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,138 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,488 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its stake in 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 valued at $781,500,000 after purchasing an additional 6,719,398 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in 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 valued at $201,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,979 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookfield Corp ON grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 112.6% in the 3rd quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 1,002,811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $115,624,000 after acquiring an additional 531,073 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.62.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK opened at $115.58 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $89.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.24, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $110.10 and a 200 day moving average of $113.00. 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 fifty-two week low of $90.09 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. On average, research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.20%.

Duke Energy 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.