Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Purchased by Platform Technology Partners

Platform Technology Partners lifted its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 265 shares during the quarter. Platform Technology Partners’ holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,812,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DUK. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $436,000. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth $353,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in Duke Energy by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 102,284 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,020,000 after buying an additional 4,102 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,858,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $200,243,000 after buying an additional 48,447 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $115.01 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The company has a 50-day moving average of $109.78 and a 200-day moving average of $112.67. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $90.09 and a twelve month high of $121.25. The firm has a market cap of $88.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. Analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DUK. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.08.

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.