Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Acquired by Sawyer & Company Inc

Sawyer & Company Inc grew its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK – Get Rating) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 11,955 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the period. Sawyer & Company Inc’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DUK. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 124.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. EWG Elevate Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Clear Perspectives Financial Planning LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1,138.5% during the 3rd quarter. Clear Perspectives Financial Planning LLC now owns 322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Louis E. Renjel sold 1,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.90, for a total value of $189,810.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,967 shares in the company, valued at $995,703.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $103.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 10th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Duke Energy from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.64.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $96.39 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $99.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market cap of $74.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.42. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $83.76 and a 52 week high of $116.33.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.27 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 8.45%. The business’s revenue was up 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.63 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 17th were issued a $1.005 dividend. This represents a $4.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.08%.

Duke Energy Profile

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Duke Energy Corp. engages in the distribution of natural gas and energy related services. It operates through the following segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure, Gas Utilities & Infrastructure and Commercial Renewables. The Electric Utilities and Infrastructure segment conducts operations in regulated electric utilities in the Carolinas, Florida and the Midwest.