Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Acquired by Aspire Private Capital LLC

Aspire Private Capital LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,227 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 560 shares during the period. Aspire Private Capital LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,448,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 10,571 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $949,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its position in Duke Energy by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 4,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its position in Duke Energy by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 6,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $601,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 14,005 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,236,000 after buying an additional 2,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Naples Global Advisors LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 24,759 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,185,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.62.

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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE DUK traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $98.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,932,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,017,579. The stock has a market cap of $75.69 billion, a PE ratio of 27.72, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.06 and a fifty-two week high of $100.39. The company’s 50-day moving average is $94.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.43. 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 (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. Duke Energy’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

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.