WealthPLAN Partners LLC Sells 1,000 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

WealthPLAN Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 21.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,561 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Horizon Investment Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC now owns 4,815 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $466,000 after purchasing an additional 908 shares in the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 44,242 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,279,000 after buying an additional 3,916 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its position in Duke Energy by 49.5% during the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 224,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,702,000 after buying an additional 74,300 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,973,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $190,845,000 after buying an additional 31,309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in Duke Energy by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 86,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,408,000 after buying an additional 4,592 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on DUK shares. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Bank of America increased their target price on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.42.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Duke Energy stock traded down $1.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $104.36. 836,673 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,900,135. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.77. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.06 and a fifty-two week high of $105.90. The stock has a market cap of $80.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

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 the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $1.025 per share. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 103.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total value of $1,027,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 68,657 shares in the company, valued at $7,057,253.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total value of $1,027,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,057,253.03. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at $45,190,031.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,695 shares of company stock worth $2,750,815 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.