Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. Sells 1,216 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 9.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 11,510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,216 shares during the quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. PBMares Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.8% during the third quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Castleview Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.9% in the third quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 10,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Sachetta LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 41.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on DUK shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays raised their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp cut shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.85.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Duke Energy stock opened at $114.02 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $115.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The firm has a market cap of $88.05 billion, a PE ratio of 21.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $86.61 and a 52-week high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 76.98%.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,259,617.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.