Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Sold by Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC

Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,635 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 528 shares during the period. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position 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 worth $10,520,000 after buying an additional 9,334 shares during the period. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the second quarter worth $2,888,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the first quarter worth $1,396,000. PrairieView Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the second quarter worth $501,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 362.7% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 27,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,664,000 after purchasing an additional 21,590 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock traded down $0.33 on Friday, hitting $110.35. The stock had a trading volume of 334,623 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,049,592. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $115.49 and a 200 day moving average of $109.10. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $88.27 and a twelve month high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.28, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.47.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DUK. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.85.

About Duke Energy

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.