Aspiriant LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Aspiriant LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the period. Aspiriant LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after buying an additional 1,580 shares during the last quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.3% during the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 65,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,319,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $295,000. Sanders Morris Harris LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $256,000. Finally, &PARTNERS increased its stake in Duke Energy by 87.8% in the 1st quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 13,879 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,342,000 after acquiring an additional 6,487 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $120.76 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $85.79 and a twelve month high of $120.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.67. The firm has a market cap of $93.20 billion, a PE ratio of 30.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.17 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on DUK. Barclays boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.