US Bancorp DE Has $42.37 Million Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

US Bancorp DE trimmed its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 393,252 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,266 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $42,369,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of DUK. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 50.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $573,000 after acquiring an additional 1,781 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $2,232,000. Flputnam Investment Management Co. boosted its position in Duke Energy by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 4,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $507,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors grew its stake in Duke Energy by 39.4% during the fourth quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors now owns 12,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,307,000 after buying an additional 3,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 68.5% in the fourth quarter. Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd. now owns 3,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DUK. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.62.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $117.50 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.77 billion, a PE ratio of 20.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.50. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $90.09 and a 52-week high of $121.25. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. Sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 73.20%.

Duke Energy Company 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.