Aspire Private Capital LLC Buys 560 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Aspire Private Capital LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,227 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the period. Aspire Private Capital LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CKW Financial Group bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 49.1% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 571 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective 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, April 16th. Bank of America boosted their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.62.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Duke Energy stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $98.11. 2,932,991 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,017,579. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.06 and a fifty-two week high of $100.39. The company has a market capitalization of $75.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.46. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $94.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.43.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.