Headinvest LLC Sells 666 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Headinvest LLC cut its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 666 shares during the quarter. Headinvest LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. City National Bank of Florida MSD acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $299,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,173,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 12,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,293,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Adalta Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Adalta Capital Management LLC now owns 20,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,201,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $126.00.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE DUK opened at $116.47 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $90.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $99.21 and a 52 week high of $125.27. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $119.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $8.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 69.32%.

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.