Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,515,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 842,458 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $799,599,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. AJOVista LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $67,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $71,000. PFS Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 145.0% during the 4th quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 263.2% during the third quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 868 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 629 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DUK shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Bank of America upped their price target on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of 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, Barclays upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.62.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK traded up $1.84 on Tuesday, reaching $102.26. The company had a trading volume of 3,801,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,018,786. The company has a fifty day moving average of $95.96 and a 200-day moving average of $94.37. The company has a market capitalization of $78.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.81, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $102.36. 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 (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 analyst estimates 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 was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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 value of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.