Soltis Investment Advisors LLC Sells 337 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Soltis Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 337 shares during the quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 7,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,597 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $204,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 85.4% in the third quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 6,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 3,080 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 10.8% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,474 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 9.3% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 304,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,101,000 after buying an additional 25,937 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on DUK shares. KeyCorp downgraded Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven 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 $122.08.

Duke Energy Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of DUK opened at $116.70 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $109.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $90.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.50. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $90.09 and a 52 week high of $121.25.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 76.84%.

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.