Kovack Advisors Inc. Purchases 1,543 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 21.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,683 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,543 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Duke Energy by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,030,865,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,157 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 509,039 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised 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 valued at $923,907,000 after purchasing an additional 492,011 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Duke Energy by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,515,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $799,599,000 after purchasing an additional 842,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Duke Energy by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,113,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $787,328,000 after buying an additional 42,782 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duke Energy news, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 $409.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total value of $173,415.45. Following 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. Insiders have sold a total of 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $99.84 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.49. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $104.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.05 billion, a PE ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.05. The company 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%. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $1.025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 103.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 report on Monday, June 24th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. 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 report on Monday, May 20th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.33.

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.