Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. Decreases Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. decreased its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 151,611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 15,205 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $16,323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $120.48 on Tuesday. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $92.75 and a 12-month high of $125.27. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $117.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $113.92. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $93.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. Analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on DUK. UBS Group upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.87.

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.