Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Sold by Whitener Capital Management Inc.

Whitener Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 281 shares during the quarter. Duke Energy accounts for 1.4% of Whitener Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Whitener Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $5,045,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,675,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,835,047,000 after buying an additional 324,289 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,493,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,111,521,000 after acquiring an additional 352,320 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,500,000 after acquiring an additional 6,719,398 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.7% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,471,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $247,672,000 after purchasing an additional 40,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Duke Energy by 65.7% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $205,769,000 after purchasing an additional 813,744 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on DUK shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price for the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.85.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $112.68 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $86.61 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The company’s fifty day moving average is $115.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,259,617.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.