Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Sold by Live Oak Private Wealth LLC

Live Oak Private Wealth LLC lessened its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 459 shares during the quarter. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 11,471.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,500,000 after purchasing an additional 6,719,398 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter worth about $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 155.1% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,832,000 after buying an additional 1,138,979 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 13,829.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,125,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,782,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117,526 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $114.43 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $88.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.03, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.50. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $90.09 and a one year high of $121.25. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $109.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.08.

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.