Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Acquires 805 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 29.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 805 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 2,345 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 3,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. McDonough Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. McDonough Capital Management Inc now owns 4,562 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $492,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV now owns 32,346 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,485,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Business Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $384,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on DUK. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.57.

Duke Energy Stock Up 1.7 %

DUK stock opened at $116.78 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $111.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.25. The company has a market capitalization of $90.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $92.75 and a 12 month high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.20%.

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.