Allworth Financial LP Increases Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK)

Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 10.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 102,965 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,084 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP's holdings in Duke Energy were worth $12,428,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 14,268.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,663,183 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $202,858,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651,608 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $163,819,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,852,731,000 after purchasing an additional 779,054 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 4,838,705 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $521,322,000 after purchasing an additional 625,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 40.6% in the fourth quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 2,027,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $218,454,000 after purchasing an additional 585,600 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DUK. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on 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. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. 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 research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $126.88.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:DUK traded down $0.77 on Friday, hitting $117.40. The stock had a trading volume of 2,098,870 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,474,968. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $116.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $115.64. Duke Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $104.02 and a 1-year high of $125.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market cap of $91.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.37.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $8.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 15.40%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.32%.

About Duke Energy

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.