First National Bank of Omaha Acquires New Position in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

First National Bank of Omaha purchased a new stake in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 26,640 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,297,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 11,417.7% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,668,789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,084,917,000 after acquiring an additional 17,515,383 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,716,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,934,580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,783 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 448.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 826,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $102,254,000 after purchasing an additional 675,768 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its position in Duke Energy by 64.4% during the second quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 1,472,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $173,734,000 after purchasing an additional 576,674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 21.1% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,726,823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $321,765,000 after purchasing an additional 474,325 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duke Energy news, CEO Louis E. Renjel sold 6,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.67, for a total transaction of $868,156.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 22,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,809,633.69. This trade represents a 23.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on DUK shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $125.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho set a $130.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $136.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Duke Energy from $141.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.19.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK stock opened at $125.23 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Duke Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $110.95 and a 52-week high of $130.03. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $119.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.92.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $7.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.66% and a net margin of 15.41%.During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a $1.065 dividend. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 67.41%.

About Duke Energy

Duke Energy Corporation is a U.S.-based electric power holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company’s core business is the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Duke Energy operates a mix of regulated electric utilities and non-regulated energy businesses, providing essential energy infrastructure and services across multiple states.

Its operating activities include owning and operating generation assets across a portfolio that encompasses nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and an expanding array of renewable resources, as well as battery storage and grid modernization projects.