Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 860 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,077,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 3.3% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 136,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,075,000 after purchasing an additional 4,373 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 21.1% in the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,192 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 1.6% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 295,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,082,000 after purchasing an additional 4,590 shares during the period. Advisor Partners II LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 31,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,744,000 after purchasing an additional 7,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 51,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,515,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. 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 business’s 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 transaction, 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 accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on DUK. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Evercore ISI raised Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.62.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE DUK traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $102.10. 73,294 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,997,344. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $102.43. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $95.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $78.77 billion, a PE ratio of 28.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $7.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.31 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 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.