United Asset Strategies Inc. Buys 117 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

United Asset Strategies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DUK. CKW Financial Group bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in Duke Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.17.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK stock opened at $94.50 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $94.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.22. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $100.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.62, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. Duke Energy’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

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.