Mather Group LLC. Has $968,000 Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Mather Group LLC. lessened its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 12.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,976 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,440 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $968,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position 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 valued at $2,030,865,000 after buying an additional 1,002,157 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 9,164.0% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 739,112 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,205,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $635,952,000 after purchasing an additional 715,069 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its position in 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 valued at $67,635,000 after purchasing an additional 561,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $98.26 on Wednesday. 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 $75.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $95.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.94. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $83.06 and a 1 year high of $100.13.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.11 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.62.

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.