Lincoln National Corp Sells 287 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Lincoln National Corp decreased its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 287 shares during the quarter. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,076,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,030,865,000 after buying an additional 1,002,157 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 968,723 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 242.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,044,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $101,348,000 after buying an additional 739,112 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 11.0% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 273.2% in the third 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on DUK shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE DUK traded up $0.29 on Wednesday, reaching $102.55. The company had a trading volume of 688,352 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,002,543. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $95.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.37. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $102.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.11 billion, a PE ratio of 28.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The company had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

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.