Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. Sells 2,141 Shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK)

Key Points

• Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC has reduced its stake in Duke Energy Corporation by 10.5%, selling 2,141 shares, leaving them with a total of 18,224 shares valued at approximately $2.22 million.
• Analysts have varying views on Duke Energy, with Wells Fargo raising the price target from $127.00 to $138.00, while BMO Capital Markets decreased their target from $128.00 to $123.00, reflecting a mix of sentiments in the market.
• Duke Energy announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $1.065 per share, indicating a positive growth in shareholder returns, with an annual yield of 3.4%.

Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. lowered its position in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 10.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,224 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 2,141 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC.'s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,223,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Duke Energy by 2.3% in the first 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 14,268.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,663,183 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $202,858,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651,608 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 4,838,705 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $521,322,000 after acquiring an additional 625,008 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 40.6% during the fourth quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 2,027,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $218,454,000 after buying an additional 585,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Duke Energy by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,001,073 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $862,036,000 after purchasing an additional 499,652 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DUK. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $127.00 price objective (up from $124.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 target price on Duke Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $128.31.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of DUK traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $125.82. 2,831,941 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,175,662. The company has a market cap of $97.84 billion, a PE ratio of 20.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.36. Duke Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $105.20 and a 52 week high of $127.85. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $118.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $117.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last released 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 company had revenue of $7.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $1.065 per share. This is a positive change from Duke Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Duke Energy's payout ratio is 67.97%.

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.