abrdn plc Purchases 133,527 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

abrdn plc lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 72.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 317,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 133,527 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $30,806,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 894 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 25,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares during the period. Wagner Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,691,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DUK. Evercore ISI raised Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Bank of America upped their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Seven equities research 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.62.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Duke Energy stock opened at $98.11 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.52. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $100.39. The stock has a market cap of $75.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.64, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of Duke Energy 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 sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company 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.