120,841 Shares in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Purchased by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 120,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,726,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CKW Financial Group bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter worth about $25,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 49.1% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 571 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Mizuho increased their target price on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Bank of America raised 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.62.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DUK traded up $0.66 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $98.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 316,153 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,981,383. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $100.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market cap of $76.20 billion, a PE ratio of 27.64, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.52.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly 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). The firm 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 for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.