Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Position Trimmed by Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co.

Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. lowered its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 136,140 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,870 shares during the period. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $14,668,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. PBMares Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% during the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 1.4% during the third quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 6,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $760,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Baron Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,730 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 10,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,172,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp cut Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.08.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $112.46 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $110.00 and its 200-day moving average is $112.61. The company has a market cap of $86.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.50. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $90.09 and a 52-week high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 76.84%.

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.