Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 13,668 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 891,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,668 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $86,524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 28.6% during the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 894 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 25,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares during the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,691,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:DUK traded down $1.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $97.71. 1,994,792 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,375,920. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.77. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.06 and a fifty-two week high of $100.13.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on DUK shares. Mizuho increased their price target on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. 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 report on Wednesday, January 10th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on 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, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.62.

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.