Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Reduces Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 13.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 525 shares during the quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $364,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DUK. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 76,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,810,000 after acquiring an additional 1,308 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 13,829.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,125,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,782,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117,526 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,069,000 after purchasing an additional 3,113 shares during the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 9,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,053,000 after purchasing an additional 938 shares during the period. Finally, apricus wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 19,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,293,000 after purchasing an additional 983 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on DUK. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 research report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.62.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK stock opened at $115.58 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $90.09 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The business’s 50-day moving average is $110.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.00.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.20%.

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.