Berry Wealth Group LP Buys Shares of 2,222 Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK)

Berry Wealth Group LP bought a new stake in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,222 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bcwm LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $9,815,000. Bailard Inc. boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 31,921 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,439,000 after purchasing an additional 3,139 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 35,755 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,852,000 after buying an additional 7,319 shares in the last quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $384,000. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 36.4% during the fourth quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 76,477 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,240,000 after buying an additional 20,414 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $125.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Duke Energy in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $127.00 price objective (up from $126.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $125.75.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.0%

DUK stock traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $116.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,470,015 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,455,581. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $117.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $114.95. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $99.21 and a 12 month high of $125.27. The company has a market capitalization of $90.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $8.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 15.40%. The business's revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio is 69.32%.

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.