Ossiam Raises Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Ossiam lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 78.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 14,844 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,518 shares during the period. Ossiam’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,599,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $173,000. Invst LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 19.4% during the third quarter. Invst LLC now owns 2,583 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,012,000. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in Duke Energy by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 23,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,677,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chelsea Counsel Co. lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 2,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Guggenheim increased their price target on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays upped their target price on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.87.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK opened at $121.65 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The business’s 50 day moving average is $117.56 and its 200-day moving average is $114.07. The stock has a market cap of $94.52 billion, a PE ratio of 21.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $96.68 and a twelve month high of $125.27.

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

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.