Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Sold by Cypress Wealth Services LLC

Cypress Wealth Services LLC reduced its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 497 shares during the quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 332.9% during the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp cut shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Up 2.4 %

Duke Energy stock opened at $109.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $84.24 billion, a PE ratio of 20.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.09 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $110.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.83.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.84%.

About Duke Energy

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.