Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) Shares Bought by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 0.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,107,625 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 9,829 shares during the quarter. Duke Energy comprises approximately 0.7% of Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 2.33% of Duke Energy worth $2,208,587,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,754 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $728,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $282,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 5,002 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 1,768 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 8,342 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $899,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 709,944 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $76,489,000 after buying an additional 24,269 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 target price on Duke Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Duke Energy from $125.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $127.25.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:DUK traded down $0.84 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $117.09. 2,430,508 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,473,118. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $116.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $115.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $91.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.37. Duke Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $105.20 and a fifty-two week high of $125.27.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $8.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 15.40%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.44 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $1.065 dividend. This is an increase from Duke Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. Duke Energy's 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.