Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Has $2.96 Million Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,223 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,147,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in Duke Energy by 1.8% during the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 51,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,116,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Excalibur Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.0% during the second quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 12,471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,250,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 9,923.0% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 769,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,103,000 after acquiring an additional 761,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 8,287 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $831,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,259,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK stock opened at $116.72 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $118.31. The business’s fifty day moving average is $111.85 and its 200-day moving average is $103.49. The company has a market cap of $90.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.47.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on DUK shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $114.23.

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.