Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Buys 3,855 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,855 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $5,543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DUK. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.2% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 543,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,993,000 after purchasing an additional 11,581 shares during the last quarter. Toews Corp ADV purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter worth $750,000. Accurate Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 7.9% during the third quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $445,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in Duke Energy by 11.4% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 309,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,274,000 after acquiring an additional 31,642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. increased its position in Duke Energy by 1.7% during the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 93,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,228,000 after acquiring an additional 1,580 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on DUK shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.62.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $98.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $75.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $95.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.94. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $100.13.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The business’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.