Valmark Advisers Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 33.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,885 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,996 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Duke Energy by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,030,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,157 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Duke Energy by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,468,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $923,907,000 after purchasing an additional 492,011 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,918,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $698,923,000 after buying an additional 144,612 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,672,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,321,000 after buying an additional 124,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,205,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $635,952,000 after buying an additional 715,069 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.62.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DUK traded down $1.32 on Friday, hitting $97.71. 1,994,792 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,375,920. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $83.06 and a 1-year high of $100.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $94.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.38 billion, a PE ratio of 27.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were 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 approximately $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.