Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Sells 962,748 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec trimmed its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 40.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,400,597 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 962,748 shares during the quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned approximately 0.18% of Duke Energy worth $150,900,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $163,819,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,138,979 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 116.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $222,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,581 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,852,731,000 after purchasing an additional 779,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $269,368,000 after purchasing an additional 561,784 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DUK shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $123.87.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.2 %

DUK stock traded up $0.26 on Friday, reaching $121.59. 2,720,048 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,379,198. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $119.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $114.57. The company has a market cap of $94.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $99.21 and a one 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.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.