Duke Energy Corporation $DUK Shares Purchased by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 13.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 138,092 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 15,942 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $16,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 98.1% during the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 53.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 360.0% in the 1st quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. TD Cowen began coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $143.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Duke Energy from $134.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $137.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.00.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK opened at $123.74 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $124.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.87. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $105.20 and a 12-month high of $130.03. The firm has a market cap of $96.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.51 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 15.51%.Duke Energy’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $1.065 per share. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In related news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total value of $248,760.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 19,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,438,843.04. This represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.