Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Has $2.07 Million Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lessened its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 21,314 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 315 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,068,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,030,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,157 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,468,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $923,907,000 after buying an additional 492,011 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.7% during the second quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,635,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $864,652,000 after acquiring an additional 257,665 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,918,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $698,923,000 after acquiring an additional 144,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 100,433.2% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,846,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $808,123,000 after purchasing an additional 7,838,811 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DUK. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Duke Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.00.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $96.71 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $83.06 and a 1-year high of $100.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market cap of $74.61 billion, a PE ratio of 27.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.90.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $1.025 dividend. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.