Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Sold by Little House Capital LLC

Little House Capital LLC lowered its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 9.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,453 shares during the quarter. Little House Capital LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,030,865,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,157 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,141,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,081,125,000 after purchasing an additional 509,039 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,468,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $923,907,000 after buying an additional 492,011 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,515,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $799,599,000 after buying an additional 842,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,113,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $787,328,000 after buying an additional 42,782 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total value of $1,027,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 68,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,057,253.03. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total transaction of $1,027,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,057,253.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total value of $173,415.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $409.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,695 shares of company stock worth $2,750,815. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on DUK shares. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Barclays lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.33.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Duke Energy stock traded down $0.81 on Monday, hitting $99.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,124,004 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,936,668. The firm has a market cap of $76.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $104.87. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $101.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.44.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The business had revenue of $7.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a $1.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.12%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 103.02%.

Duke Energy 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.