Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Sold by Mackenzie Financial Corp

Mackenzie Financial Corp cut its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,306,297 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 238,851 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned approximately 0.30% of Duke Energy worth $248,480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $163,819,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 116.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $222,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,581 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 14.8% in the 4th 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 lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 40.6% in the 4th quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 2,027,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $218,454,000 after purchasing an additional 585,600 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on DUK. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $125.81.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DUK traded down $1.85 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $114.53. The company had a trading volume of 2,797,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,437,666. The business has a 50 day moving average of $118.87 and a 200-day moving average of $114.71. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $99.21 and a 1-year high of $125.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $89.02 billion, a PE ratio of 20.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $8.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. The business's revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.32%.

Duke Energy 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.