Flputnam Investment Management Co. Cuts Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. lowered its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 28.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,289 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $308,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Keel Point LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $217,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 523,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,789,000 after acquiring an additional 77,770 shares in the last quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 13,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,286,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 8,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $819,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Romano Brothers AND Company lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 84,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,171,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE:DUK opened at $95.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $74.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $100.39. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.24.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $7.21 billion during 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.11 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on DUK shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.17.

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.