First National Trust Co Reduces Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

First National Trust Co decreased its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 360 shares during the quarter. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,488,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,016,846,000 after buying an additional 442,302 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Duke Energy by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $922,529,000 after buying an additional 135,665 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its position in Duke Energy by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $269,368,000 after buying an additional 561,784 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Duke Energy by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,290,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $264,111,000 after buying an additional 6,500 shares during the period. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at $2,537,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.93.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $120.29 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $92.75 and a one year high of $121.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $112.86 and a 200 day moving average of $113.45. The company has a market capitalization of $93.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.20%.

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.