RMR Wealth Builders Boosts Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

RMR Wealth Builders increased its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 32.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,118 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,507 shares during the quarter. RMR Wealth Builders’ holdings in Duke Energy were worth $982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,030,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,157 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 9,164.0% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 979,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $95,031,000 after acquiring an additional 968,723 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Duke Energy by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,515,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $799,599,000 after buying an additional 842,458 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 242.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,044,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $101,348,000 after acquiring an additional 739,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,205,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $635,952,000 after acquiring an additional 715,069 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $102.15 on Thursday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $95.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.37. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $102.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.84, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 EPS. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DUK. Royal Bank of Canada raised Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.31.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.