Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Sold by First Financial Bank Trust Division

First Financial Bank Trust Division lessened its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 329 shares during the period. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $599,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DUK. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $354,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $2,394,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth $1,778,000. Finally, Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth $722,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DUK. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Bank of America increased their target price 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.75.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $100.37. The company had a trading volume of 774,814 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,938,926. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $100.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.07. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $104.87. The firm has a market cap of $77.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.33, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released 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. Duke Energy had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The business had revenue of $7.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a dividend of $1.025 per share. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 103.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total transaction of $1,027,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 68,657 shares in the company, valued at $7,057,253.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,057,253.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,695 shares of company stock worth $2,750,815 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.14% 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.