WBH Advisory Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

WBH Advisory Inc. cut its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 6.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 372 shares during the period. WBH Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $541,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 4,163.9% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 882,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $85,352,000 after acquiring an additional 861,854 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,515,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $799,599,000 after acquiring an additional 842,458 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Duke Energy by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,141,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,081,125,000 after acquiring an additional 509,039 shares during the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth $41,874,000. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 96.1% during the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 789,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $76,529,000 after buying an additional 387,038 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on DUK shares. Barclays raised their price target on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank raised their price target on Duke Energy from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.75.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK traded down $0.82 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $111.61. 231,927 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,954,664. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $104.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $99.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.50. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $116.67. The company has a market capitalization of $86.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 105.03%.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In related news, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total value of $173,415.45. Following the sale, the director now owns 4 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $409.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Duke Energy news, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total value of $173,415.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4 shares in the company, valued at approximately $409.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by 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.