Power Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 2,852 Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Power Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 2,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $277,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of DUK. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake 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 in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 9,164.0% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 979,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $95,031,000 after acquiring an additional 968,723 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 242.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,044,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $101,348,000 after purchasing an additional 739,112 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,205,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $635,952,000 after purchasing an additional 715,069 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 273.2% during the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 766,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,635,000 after purchasing an additional 561,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.62.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK traded up $0.95 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $100.26. 4,338,461 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,636,808. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $95.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.09. The firm has a market cap of $77.35 billion, a PE ratio of 28.24, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $100.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm 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 for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy 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.