Slocum Gordon & Co LLP Sells 500 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Slocum Gordon & Co LLP trimmed its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 32,123 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Duke Energy accounts for approximately 2.4% of Slocum Gordon & Co LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $3,220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,666 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 55.1% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 6,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $600,000 after buying an additional 2,199 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 109.4% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,374 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $425,000 after acquiring an additional 2,285 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. First Western Trust Bank now owns 3,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 849 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,565,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on DUK shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.92.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.2 %

DUK stock opened at $117.08 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $90.36 billion, a PE ratio of 29.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $118.11. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $109.18 and its 200 day moving average is $101.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The company had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Company 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.