Vontobel Holding Ltd. Has $4.82 Million Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. decreased its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 41,815 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,045 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $4,821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 65.7% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $205,769,000 after purchasing an additional 813,744 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 9,923.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 769,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,103,000 after buying an additional 761,590 shares during the period. BROOKFIELD Corp ON bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter worth $36,278,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,493,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,111,521,000 after acquiring an additional 352,320 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,675,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,835,047,000 after acquiring an additional 324,289 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE DUK opened at $120.58 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $85.79 and a one year high of $120.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $93.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $114.84 and its 200-day moving average is $106.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The firm 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.