Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Sold by Key Financial Inc

Key Financial Inc lowered its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,058 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 175 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $103,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,030,865,000 after buying an additional 1,002,157 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,468,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $923,907,000 after buying an additional 492,011 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Duke Energy by 2.7% during the second quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,635,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $864,652,000 after purchasing an additional 257,665 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Duke Energy by 1.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,918,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $698,923,000 after purchasing an additional 144,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 100,433.2% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,846,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $808,123,000 after purchasing an additional 7,838,811 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Evercore ISI raised Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.17.

Duke Energy Stock Up 1.8 %

NYSE:DUK opened at $94.50 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $72.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $100.39. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The business had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.