Advisory Alpha LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Advisory Alpha LLC decreased its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 64.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,735 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 10,227 shares during the quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC's holdings in Duke Energy were worth $700,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 15.1% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,539 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 14,268.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,663,183 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $202,858,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651,608 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 6,752 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $824,000 after acquiring an additional 809 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 3.0% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 2,993 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers Trust Co. boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 0.4% during the first quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 52,013 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,344,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK stock traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $115.63. The stock had a trading volume of 2,442,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,449,926. The business's fifty day moving average is $118.54 and its 200-day moving average is $114.89. The firm has a market cap of $89.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.25, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.37. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $99.21 and a 1-year high of $125.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on DUK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Duke Energy from $126.00 to $125.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $125.81.

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.