Two Sigma Securities LLC Sells 39,303 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Two Sigma Securities LLC lowered its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 90.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,197 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 39,303 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC's holdings in Duke Energy were worth $452,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $163,819,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Duke Energy by 155.1% during the 4th 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 position in Duke Energy by 116.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $222,520,000 after buying an additional 1,111,581 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 position in Duke Energy by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $269,368,000 after buying an additional 561,784 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $123.87.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $122.11. 2,998,474 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,389,101. 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 capitalization of $94.88 billion, a PE ratio of 21.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $118.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.48. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $97.49 and a 52-week high of $125.27.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, research analysts predict 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.