Howard Capital Management Inc. Has $566,000 Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Howard Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 26.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,849 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $566,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $781,500,000 after buying an additional 6,719,398 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 155.1% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,979 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookfield Corp ON boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 112.6% in the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 1,002,811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $115,624,000 after purchasing an additional 531,073 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.62.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $115.86 on Tuesday. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $90.09 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.03. The company has a market cap of $89.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.20%.

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.