Cary Street Partners Financial LLC Takes $3.28 Million Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 30,484 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,284,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Chapman Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $291,000. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 4,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $468,000 after acquiring an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Beck Bode LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Beck Bode LLC now owns 138,639 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,937,000 after purchasing an additional 15,888 shares during the period. Bearing Point Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $782,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 66.8% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 69,529 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,491,000 after buying an additional 27,837 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DUK. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $126.00.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $120.31. 3,036,352 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,380,504. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $119.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $114.60. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $93.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $99.21 and a 52 week high of $125.27.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $8.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. The company's revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. Analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.32%.

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.