Blair William & Co. IL Acquires 2,257 Shares of Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 2.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 93,445 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,257 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in Duke Energy were worth $11,027,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,562,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,094,327,000 after purchasing an additional 1,676,061 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 17,880.0% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,249,508 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,250,133,000 after acquiring an additional 10,192,503 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Duke Energy by 4.9% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,921,517 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,088,158,000 after acquiring an additional 418,014 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Duke Energy by 1.1% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,656,244 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,055,087,000 after acquiring an additional 93,699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Duke Energy by 1.9% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,153,615 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $994,496,000 after acquiring an additional 152,542 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total transaction of $832,542.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,422 shares in the company, valued at $5,768,397.72. The trade was a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total transaction of $248,760.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,438,843.04. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DUK. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Scotiabank set a $137.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $127.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Duke Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $141.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $134.08.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $126.88 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $123.06 and a 200 day moving average of $119.87. The stock has a market cap of $98.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.44. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $105.20 and a 12 month high of $127.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $7.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.07 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. Duke Energy's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $1.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This is an increase from Duke Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Duke Energy's payout ratio is currently 69.27%.

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.

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