Duke Energy Corporation $DUK Shares Sold by Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Key Points

• Resona Asset Management reduced its Duke Energy stake by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 8,238 shares and leaving it with 312,650 shares valued at about $36.7 million.
• Insider selling continued, with CEO Louis E. Renjel and SVP Regis T. Repko among executives who sold shares; insiders sold 24,462 shares worth roughly $3.0 million over the last three months.
• Duke Energy beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $1.93 EPS on $9.18 billion in revenue, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $1.065 per share, equal to a 3.5% annualized yield.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. cut its stake in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 312,650 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 8,238 shares during the quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $36,659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Dorato Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 280 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 13,750.0% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 277 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, CEO Louis E. Renjel sold 3,500 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.15, for a total value of $438,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,680,087.25. The trade was a 14.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Regis T. Repko sold 962 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.86, for a total value of $123,001.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 3,896 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $498,142.56. This represents a 19.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 24,462 shares of company stock valued at $3,048,426 in the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DUK. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $139.00 to $136.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Capitol Sec Mgt lowered shares of Duke Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Monday, May 4th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $139.67.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $122.80 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $95.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.81 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $128.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $124.01. Duke Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $113.39 and a 1-year high of $134.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 15.49%.Duke Energy's revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.76 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $1.065 dividend. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Duke Energy's payout ratio is currently 65.24%.

Duke Energy Profile

Duke Energy Corporation is a U.S.-based electric power holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company's core business is the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Duke Energy operates a mix of regulated electric utilities and non-regulated energy businesses, providing essential energy infrastructure and services across multiple states.

Its operating activities include owning and operating generation assets across a portfolio that encompasses nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and an expanding array of renewable resources, as well as battery storage and grid modernization projects.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DUK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.