Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Purchased by Treasurer of the State of North Carolina

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 339,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,130 shares during the quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $36,573,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $163,819,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 155.1% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,138,979 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 116.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $222,520,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111,581 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,852,731,000 after purchasing an additional 779,054 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its position in Duke Energy by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $269,368,000 after purchasing an additional 561,784 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:DUK opened at $116.80 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.46, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $92.75 and a 1-year high of $125.27. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $116.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $113.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on DUK shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.87.

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.