Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Purchased by Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC

Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,030,865,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,157 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,468,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $923,907,000 after purchasing an additional 492,011 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,635,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $864,652,000 after purchasing an additional 257,665 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,918,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $698,923,000 after buying an additional 144,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 100,433.2% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,846,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $808,123,000 after buying an additional 7,838,811 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE DUK traded up $2.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $98.24. The company had a trading volume of 4,060,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,016,635. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $94.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.24. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $100.39. The company has a market capitalization of $75.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.61, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.11 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on DUK shares. Mizuho lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI raised Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.