Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Acquired by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 15.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 132,562 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,123 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $15,284,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of DUK. Duality Advisers LP boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 57.8% in the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 27,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,618,000 after purchasing an additional 9,917 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 63.8% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 44,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,324,000 after purchasing an additional 17,420 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 9.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 108,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,520,000 after purchasing an additional 9,334 shares during the last quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy in the second quarter valued at about $2,888,000. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Duke Energy in the first quarter valued at about $1,396,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on DUK. Barclays increased their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America increased their target price on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.85.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $112.52 on Tuesday. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $86.61 and a twelve month high of $121.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.98%.

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.