Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Has $74.79 Million Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC reduced its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 648,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,776 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $74,786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 69.6% during the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 101.2% in the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the first quarter worth $36,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,259,617.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Down 2.2 %

NYSE DUK opened at $112.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $86.61 and a 52 week high of $121.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $115.84 and a 200-day moving average of $108.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.85.

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.