Charles Schwab Trust Co Sells 236 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Charles Schwab Trust Co cut its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 11.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 236 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Trust Co’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 69.6% in the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 101.2% in the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock traded up $0.88 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $114.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,279,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,027,634. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.74. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $85.79 and a 1-year high of $118.31. The company has a market capitalization of $88.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 76.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DUK. Bank of America increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.