Forum Financial Management LP Purchases Shares of 2,060 Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Forum Financial Management LP acquired a new stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,060 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $163,819,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Duke Energy by 155.1% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $201,832,000 after buying an additional 1,138,979 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 116.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $222,520,000 after buying an additional 1,111,581 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 779,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $269,368,000 after acquiring an additional 561,784 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group increased their target price on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $123.87.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.6 %

DUK traded up $0.70 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $120.55. 312,816 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,382,770. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $93.67 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $118.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.38. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $97.49 and a one year high of $125.27.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.