Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Trims Holdings in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK)

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lowered its holdings in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 11.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 127,598 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 16,179 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.'s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $15,563,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in 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 bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth $163,819,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,852,731,000 after purchasing an additional 779,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $521,322,000 after buying an additional 625,008 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price 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. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $127.00 price objective (up previously from $126.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Monday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Duke Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $132.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $126.94.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $116.93 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $117.52 and a 200 day moving average of $115.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. Duke Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $99.21 and a twelve month high of $125.27. The firm has a market cap of $90.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.37.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.17. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 15.40%. The firm had revenue of $8.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.