3Chopt Investment Partners LLC Sells 266 Shares of Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

3Chopt Investment Partners LLC decreased its position in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,428 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 266 shares during the quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 2.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,562,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,094,327,000 after buying an additional 1,676,061 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 17,880.0% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,249,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,250,133,000 after buying an additional 10,192,503 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.9% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,921,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,088,158,000 after buying an additional 418,014 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.1% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,656,244 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,055,087,000 after buying an additional 93,699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.9% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,153,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $994,496,000 after purchasing an additional 152,542 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Duke Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $141.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Friday, September 26th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $127.00 price target (up previously from $124.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays raised their price target on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $137.00 price target on Duke Energy and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.08.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total transaction of $248,760.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 19,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,438,843.04. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total value of $832,542.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,422 shares in the company, valued at $5,768,397.72. This trade represents a 12.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $124.68 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.77. Duke Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $105.20 and a 52-week high of $127.85. The firm has a market cap of $96.95 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.04). Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The firm had revenue of $7.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.065 per share. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 69.27%.

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.