L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP Buys 131 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP grew its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 6.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $261,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DUK. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 69.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 101.2% in the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of DUK traded down $1.81 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $117.21. The stock had a trading volume of 2,406,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,935,015. The company has a market capitalization of $90.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $86.61 and a 12 month high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, August 29th. KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.85.

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.