Pure Financial Advisors LLC Has $266,000 Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Pure Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. PBMares Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 4.9% in the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Kanawha Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 6,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $760,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Baron Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,730 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 10,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp cut shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $108.86 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $110.38 and a 200-day moving average of $112.19. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $90.09 and a 12 month high of $121.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.09 billion, a PE ratio of 20.01, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The business had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.84%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 76.84%.

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.