Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC Has $270,000 Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC cut its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 41.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the period. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $270,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Command Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Duke Energy by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $771,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Chemung Canal Trust Co. increased its position in Duke Energy by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 14,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Verum Partners LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 3,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 27,481 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,667,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Bank of America increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Seven research 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 company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.85.

Duke Energy Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock traded down $1.28 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $102.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,298,784 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,999,540. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $104.60. The company has a market capitalization of $78.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The company had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.31 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $1.025 per share. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 103.02%.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In related news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Duke Energy news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total transaction of $1,027,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,057,253.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.