Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Acquired by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,940 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,244 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 779,054 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,097,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,949,857,000 after purchasing an additional 124,863 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,873,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,930,833,000 after purchasing an additional 385,612 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $922,529,000 after buying an additional 135,665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $269,368,000 after buying an additional 561,784 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on DUK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.87.

Duke Energy Stock Down 4.1 %

DUK opened at $118.91 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $92.75 and a 52 week high of $125.27. The firm has a market cap of $92.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.83, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $116.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $113.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.20%.

Duke Energy Company 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.