Private Wealth Partners LLC Has $1.63 Million Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Private Wealth Partners LLC decreased its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,082 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 900 shares during the period. Private Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,625,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 11,471.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $781,500,000 after purchasing an additional 6,719,398 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at about $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Duke Energy by 155.1% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 13,829.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,125,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,526 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DUK. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.08.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

Duke Energy stock opened at $111.78 on Thursday. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $90.09 and a twelve month high of $121.25. The stock has a market cap of $86.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $109.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. As a group, analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 73.20%.

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.