Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. Lowers Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. trimmed its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 259 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,634,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in DUK. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in 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 in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 9,164.0% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 979,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $95,031,000 after acquiring an additional 968,723 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 242.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,044,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $101,348,000 after purchasing an additional 739,112 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,205,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $635,952,000 after purchasing an additional 715,069 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 273.2% in the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 766,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,635,000 after purchasing an additional 561,000 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Up 1.1 %

DUK traded up $1.05 during trading on Monday, reaching $98.76. The stock had a trading volume of 284,911 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,950,313. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $94.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.80. 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 company has a market capitalization of $76.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $100.13.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted 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). Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on DUK. 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, April 15th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI raised Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Bank of America increased their target price on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.62.

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.