PDS Planning Inc Trims Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

PDS Planning Inc reduced its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 20.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 712 shares during the quarter. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $261,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in DUK. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,030,865,000 after buying an additional 1,002,157 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 9,164.0% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 979,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $95,031,000 after buying an additional 968,723 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 242.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,044,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $101,348,000 after buying an additional 739,112 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,205,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $635,952,000 after buying an additional 715,069 shares during the period. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 273.2% in the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 766,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,635,000 after buying an additional 561,000 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DUK. Bank of America increased their target price on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Evercore ISI upgraded Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.62.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK stock opened at $98.20 on Wednesday. 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 Co. has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $100.39. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.66, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The business had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.