Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC Reduces Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC lessened its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 12.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,732 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 944 shares during the period. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $653,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 894 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 25,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares during the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,691,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective 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. Mizuho raised their price target on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Barclays raised their target price on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.62.

Duke Energy Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $97.71 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $94.84 and a 200-day moving average of $93.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.52, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $100.13.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 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 company had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.