4,831 Shares in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Purchased by Stanley Laman Group Ltd.

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 4,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $428,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,002,157 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 968,723 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Duke Energy by 242.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,044,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $101,348,000 after acquiring an additional 739,112 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,205,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $635,952,000 after purchasing an additional 715,069 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its position in 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 valued at $67,635,000 after purchasing an additional 561,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DUK. Mizuho lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America boosted 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.62.

Duke Energy Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock traded down $1.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $97.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,994,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,983,831. The company has a market capitalization of $75.38 billion, a PE ratio of 27.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $100.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $94.84 and a 200 day moving average of $93.74.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.11 EPS. Analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

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.