Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Bought by Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY

Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 339.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 65,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 50,380 shares during the quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $6,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,141,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,081,125,000 after buying an additional 509,039 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 4.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,468,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $923,907,000 after acquiring an additional 492,011 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 11.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 842,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,113,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $787,328,000 after purchasing an additional 42,782 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on DUK shares. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK stock opened at $99.96 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap of $77.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.36.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Duke Energy Company 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.