Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. Decreases Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lessened its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 211 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 69.6% in the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.92.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,259,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $116.60 on Monday. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $83.06 and a 1 year high of $118.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $90.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.30, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s fifty day moving average is $109.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.23.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. Analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 105.03%.

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.