Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) Stock Position Trimmed by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,230,644 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 68,225 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. owned about 0.16% of Duke Energy worth $150,103,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,754 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $728,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. boosted its position in Duke Energy by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 10,817 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,165,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 16,508 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 815 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 5,379 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK stock traded down $0.96 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $115.99. 2,966,346 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,459,357. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $117.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $114.97. 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 Corporation has a 52 week low of $99.21 and a 52 week high of $125.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.37.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $8.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.40% and a return on equity of 9.88%. Duke Energy's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 69.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $125.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Duke Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $132.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $126.94.

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.