GYL Financial Synergies LLC Sells 600 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

GYL Financial Synergies LLC reduced its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 15,874 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $219,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 39.4% during the 4th quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 2,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 435,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,084,000 after purchasing an additional 13,406 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 57.8% during the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 27,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,618,000 after purchasing an additional 9,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 182.5% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 39,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,786,000 after purchasing an additional 25,203 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.85.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $111.94 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $83.06 and a 52-week high of $116.67. The stock has a market cap of $86.39 billion, a PE ratio of 28.17, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $106.48 and a 200-day moving average of $100.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its 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. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The business’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 105.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at $2,259,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.