Verus Financial Partners Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Verus Financial Partners Inc. raised its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 25.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 943 shares during the quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $450,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RMR Wealth Builders raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 10,118 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $982,000 after buying an additional 2,507 shares during the period. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 109.4% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,374 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285 shares during the period. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $220,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho upped 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. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE DUK traded up $0.50 on Thursday, reaching $102.88. 865,793 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,011,155. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.37 billion, a PE ratio of 28.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.06 and a fifty-two week high of $103.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $95.96 and a 200 day moving average of $94.37.

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

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.