Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Sold by American Money Management LLC

American Money Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 355 shares during the quarter. American Money Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,852,731,000 after acquiring an additional 779,054 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 worth $2,016,846,000 after purchasing an additional 442,302 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $922,529,000 after purchasing an additional 135,665 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $269,368,000 after purchasing an additional 561,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,537,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.87.

Duke Energy Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $119.42 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $92.75 and a fifty-two week high of $121.47. The stock has a market cap of $92.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $115.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.70.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.