Fisher Asset Management LLC Acquires 1,666 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 18.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,666 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,041,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. now owns 3,173 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 18,130 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 1,965 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 6,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $600,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 10,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,916 shares during the period. Finally, Searle & CO. lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Searle & CO. now owns 3,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $103.01 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $103.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $96.19 and a 200 day moving average of $94.42. The company has a market capitalization of $79.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.02, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $7.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.31 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI raised Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.31.

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.