MONECO Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

MONECO Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 38,310 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 817 shares during the quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $4,128,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 1.7% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 76,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,810,000 after acquiring an additional 1,308 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 13,829.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,125,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,782,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117,526 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 23,418 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,700,000 after buying an additional 1,781 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 8,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,013,000 after buying an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 6,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $741,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on DUK shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank upped their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.62.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Duke Energy stock opened at $115.58 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $110.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $89.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.50. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.09 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 73.20%.

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.