Wealthspire Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 19.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,605 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,694,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. AJOVista LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $67,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth $71,000. Hedge funds and other 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 firm’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 directly owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on DUK. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded 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 research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.31.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of DUK stock traded up $0.13 on Wednesday, hitting $102.39. The stock had a trading volume of 3,497,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,033,088. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $95.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.37. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $83.06 and a 1 year high of $102.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $7.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate 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.