Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 14.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,579 shares during the period. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $4,683,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 72.6% during the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 3,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 1,556 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Steph & Co. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 9.2% during the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 9,458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $915,000 after acquiring an additional 793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 6.6% during the first quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 8,069 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $780,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on DUK shares. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Duke Energy news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at $45,190,031.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total transaction of $173,415.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $409.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $101.51 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $104.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.31 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a $1.025 dividend. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. 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.