Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Boosts Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,097,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 124,863 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 2.34% of Duke Energy worth $1,949,857,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Bcwm LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $9,815,000. Bailard Inc. increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 31,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,439,000 after buying an additional 3,139 shares during the last quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 52,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,613,000 after buying an additional 2,705 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 35,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,852,000 after buying an additional 7,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Business Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $384,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.7 %

Duke Energy stock opened at $121.08 on Wednesday. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $92.75 and a 12-month high of $122.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.08 billion, a PE ratio of 21.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.75.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.20%.

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.