Vontobel Holding Ltd. Reduces Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lessened its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,331 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $4,618,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CKW Financial Group acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the first quarter valued at $28,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the first quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.17.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $94.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $83.06 and a 1 year high of $100.39. The company has a market capitalization of $72.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $94.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.22.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.