Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Sold by Maple Brown Abbott Ltd

Maple Brown Abbott Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 994,660 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 76,200 shares during the period. Duke Energy accounts for about 9.9% of Maple Brown Abbott Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd owned about 0.13% of Duke Energy worth $96,522,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 100,433.2% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,846,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $808,123,000 after acquiring an additional 7,838,811 shares during the last quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 8,722.3% during the second quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 1,127,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $112,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115,053 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,018,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,031,772,000 after buying an additional 1,037,012 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,030,865,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 9,164.0% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 979,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $95,031,000 after acquiring an additional 968,723 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK traded up $1.75 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $94.62. The stock had a trading volume of 1,036,111 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,996,932. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $73.00 billion, a PE ratio of 26.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $100.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $94.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.21.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The business had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.11 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the topic of a number of research reports. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.