Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Purchases 14,458 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 558,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,458 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $54,171,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy 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 value 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK traded up $0.95 during trading on Friday, hitting $100.26. The stock had a trading volume of 4,338,461 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,636,808. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $100.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.02.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.11 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on DUK shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 note on Friday, February 9th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.62.

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.