Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Sold by OLD Second National Bank of Aurora

OLD Second National Bank of Aurora lowered its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,738 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 179 shares during the quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $169,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. CKW Financial Group acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter worth about $28,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.17.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $95.93 on Friday. 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 50 day simple moving average of $94.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.24. The company has a market cap of $74.01 billion, a PE ratio of 27.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $100.39.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

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.