Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC Sells 576 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC cut its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 576 shares during the quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 59.1% in the fourth quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK traded down $1.28 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $102.16. The company had a trading volume of 1,050,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,997,603. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.45. The stock has a market cap of $78.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.99, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $104.60.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The company had revenue of $7.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $1.025 dividend. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at $45,190,031.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total value of $173,415.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4 shares in the company, valued at approximately $409.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,695 shares of company stock worth $2,750,815. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on DUK. Barclays raised their target price on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. 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 research report on Thursday, April 11th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Mizuho boosted 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.85.

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.