Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Purchased by Fox Run Management L.L.C.

Fox Run Management L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 83.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,171 shares during the quarter. Duke Energy makes up about 0.4% of Fox Run Management L.L.C.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Fox Run Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,930,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 155.1% in the fourth 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 holdings 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 period. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 561,784 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.87.

Duke Energy Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:DUK opened at $119.01 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $114.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.69. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $92.75 and a 52 week high of $121.47. The company has a market capitalization of $92.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 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, research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 73.20%.

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.