Portside Wealth Group LLC Sells 128 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Portside Wealth Group LLC lessened its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,567 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 128 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its stake in Duke Energy by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 6,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $676,000 after buying an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management now owns 30,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,296,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,614 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,113,000 after acquiring an additional 1,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 68,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,404,000 after acquiring an additional 2,784 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $109.34 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $90.09 and a 52 week high of $121.25. The company has a market cap of $84.47 billion, a PE ratio of 20.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50 day moving average of $110.47 and a 200 day moving average of $111.88.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS 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 company had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

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 given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.