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

Bailard Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 304 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CKW Financial Group acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter worth $50,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 49.1% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 571 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DUK. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.62.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE:DUK traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $98.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 250,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,961,443. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $94.73 and a 200-day moving average of $93.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company has a market capitalization of $75.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.06 and a fifty-two week high of $100.13.

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

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

About Duke Energy

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.