Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC Sells 883 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,691 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 883 shares during the period. Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,852,731,000 after acquiring an additional 779,054 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,097,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,949,857,000 after acquiring an additional 124,863 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,873,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,930,833,000 after buying an additional 385,612 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Duke Energy by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $922,529,000 after buying an additional 135,665 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Duke Energy by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,503,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $916,168,000 after buying an additional 357,967 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $126.00.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $117.27 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $91.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $99.21 and a 1 year high of $125.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $119.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.59.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $8.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.32%.

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.