Bank OZK Trims Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Bank OZK decreased its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,962 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 155 shares during the quarter. Duke Energy comprises 1.0% of Bank OZK’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Bank OZK’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,131,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $45,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Duke Energy by 49.1% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 571 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $71,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Down 1.3 %

DUK traded down $1.32 on Friday, hitting $97.71. 1,994,792 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,375,920. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $100.13. The company has a market cap of $75.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $94.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.74.

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

About Duke Energy

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.