Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Bought by Meeder Advisory Services Inc.

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 17.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,194 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,326,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. First Manhattan Co. increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 11,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,227,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 19,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,872,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chemung Canal Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 14,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.4 %

DUK opened at $96.29 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $100.39.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The firm’s quarterly 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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a $1.025 dividend. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 115.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on DUK shares. Bank of America downgraded Duke Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $96.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. 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 research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Evercore ISI raised Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.67.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

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 stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.