MKT Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

MKT Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,295 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 197 shares during the period. MKT Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $360,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 52,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,705 shares during the period. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $2,888,000. CCM Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 83,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,008,000 after purchasing an additional 16,356 shares during the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,032,000. Finally, Corundum Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,566,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on DUK shares. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays raised their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $109.86 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $110.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $112.21. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.09 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.87 billion, a PE ratio of 20.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.84%.

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.