Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Stock

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price objective boosted by Morgan Stanley from $123.00 to $128.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 7.04% from the company’s current price.

DUK has been the topic of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.64.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock traded up $0.27 during trading on Thursday, hitting $119.58. The stock had a trading volume of 850,718 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,971,023. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $113.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.61. The company has a market capitalization of $92.92 billion, a PE ratio of 20.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. 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 has a 1 year low of $92.75 and a 1 year high of $121.47.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% in the 4th 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 during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,097,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,949,857,000 after acquiring an additional 124,863 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,873,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,930,833,000 after buying an additional 385,612 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $922,529,000 after buying an additional 135,665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,503,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $916,168,000 after buying an additional 357,967 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.