Sheets Smith Wealth Management Sells 690 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management reduced its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,345 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 690 shares during the quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fortis Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. AJOVista LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $67,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $71,000. PFS Partners LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 145.0% during the 4th quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $77,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Evercore ISI upgraded Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.62.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE:DUK traded up $0.95 on Friday, reaching $100.26. 4,338,461 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,636,808. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.17. The firm has a market cap of $77.35 billion, a PE ratio of 28.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $100.56.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. Duke Energy’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current 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.