Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Purchased by D Orazio & Associates Inc.

D Orazio & Associates Inc. raised its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,746 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $296,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 43,584 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,696,000 after acquiring an additional 5,615 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 41,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,476,000 after purchasing an additional 7,653 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Financial LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,732,000. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 135,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,636,000 after buying an additional 1,113 shares during the period. Finally, TFG Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 4,848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $522,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.4 %

DUK stock opened at $115.01 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $109.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.67. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $90.09 and a 52-week high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on DUK shares. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp cut Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.08.

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.