Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC Sells 207 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 207 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $734,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 5,739 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $618,000 after buying an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,166,000 after buying an additional 2,769 shares in the last quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 332.9% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC now owns 6,732 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $725,000 after buying an additional 869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RMR Wealth Builders lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 15,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,680,000 after buying an additional 1,222 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $109.34 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $110.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $111.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $84.47 billion, a PE ratio of 20.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $90.09 and a 1 year high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 76.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp cut shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.23.

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.