Strs Ohio Trims Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Strs Ohio lessened its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 227,914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,228 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $22,116,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DUK. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the first quarter worth $40,000. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.2% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 47,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,276,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 29.5% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 2,223 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 447.8% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on DUK shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of 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. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.25.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $94.13 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $72.62 billion, a PE ratio of 26.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $94.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.18. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.06 and a fifty-two week high of $100.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, 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 this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.