Moody National Bank Trust Division Has $2.47 Million Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Moody National Bank Trust Division lessened its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK – Get Rating) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 23,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 566 shares during the quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,467,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,549,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,562,551,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035,303 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 2.1% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 54,910,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,107,783,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109,394 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,155,130 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,200,330,000 after purchasing an additional 816,427 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 9.7% during the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,591,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $921,081,000 after purchasing an additional 758,883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.4% in the second quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,481,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $909,319,000 after acquiring an additional 29,885 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.22% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Duke Energy stock traded down $0.81 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $96.39. 5,914,272 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,992,928. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The business has a fifty day moving average of $99.26 and a 200 day moving average of $99.01. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $83.76 and a 1-year high of $116.33. The company has a market capitalization of $74.23 billion, a PE ratio of 29.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.42.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.45% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 17th were paid a $1.005 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 16th. This represents a $4.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 9th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $103.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.64.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Louis E. Renjel sold 1,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.90, for a total value of $189,810.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,967 shares in the company, valued at $995,703.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Duke Energy Company Profile

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Duke Energy Corp. engages in the distribution of natural gas and energy related services. It operates through the following segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure, Gas Utilities & Infrastructure and Commercial Renewables. The Electric Utilities and Infrastructure segment conducts operations in regulated electric utilities in the Carolinas, Florida and the Midwest.