AlphaMark Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

AlphaMark Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 379 shares during the quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $167,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DUK. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,032,000 after acquiring an additional 1,580 shares in the last quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd raised its stake in Duke Energy by 1.3% during the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 65,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,319,000 after buying an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV bought a new position in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $295,000. Sanders Morris Harris LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $256,000. Finally, &PARTNERS increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 87.8% in the 1st quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 13,879 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,342,000 after acquiring an additional 6,487 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.85.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $120.76 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.20 billion, a PE ratio of 30.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $115.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.67. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $85.79 and a 52-week high of $120.85.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.03%.

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.