Connectus Wealth LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Connectus Wealth LLC lowered its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK – Get Rating) by 25.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,585 shares during the quarter. Connectus Wealth LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Duke Energy by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,149,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $749,973,000 after purchasing an additional 752,817 shares during the period. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the first quarter valued at about $80,223,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,198,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its position in Duke Energy by 720.4% in the fourth quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 544,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,166,000 after purchasing an additional 478,537 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,041,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,364,219,000 after purchasing an additional 393,044 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.35% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Steven K. Young sold 415 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.75, for a total transaction of $44,716.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 114,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,291,258. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 1,245 shares of company stock valued at $137,021 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Monday, July 18th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $121.00 to $116.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $109.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 10th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $122.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 30th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group downgraded Duke Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $112.00 to $114.00 in a research report on Friday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.91.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.5 %

DUK stock opened at $109.16 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.70. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $95.48 and a one year high of $116.33. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $106.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.24.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.18 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $6.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.79 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 14.50%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.45 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 12th will be paid a $1.005 dividend. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. This represents a $4.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 11th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 79.76%.

Duke Energy Company Profile

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Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure, Gas Utilities and Infrastructure, and Commercial Renewables. The Electric Utilities and Infrastructure segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest; and uses coal, hydroelectric, natural gas, oil, renewable generation, and nuclear fuel to generate electricity.